Today I went to the groundbreaking for St. Alcuin’s new east campus. The $13 million expansion (which should be complete by next summer) will include a new middle school, library, a garden (with a pretty cool labyrinth), and some improvements to the existing building on the south side of campus.
In this line of work, I cover a lot of school events, especially ones at the elementary and junior high level like this. So when I showed up today, I expected to find some enthused parents, teachers, and maybe a cookie tray and a bowl of punch.
What I found instead was a practically red-carpeted shindig: There was valet parking, a live jazz quartet, and a huge tent with plenty of refreshments and giant fans (which I have to admit, were appreciated on a sweltering day like today–but OK, the jazz band was a bit over the top.).
The entire ceremony was emceed by Kellie Raspberry (she’s a popular morning personality on 106.1 KISS FM for those of you who’ve been living under a rock). Head of School Shaun Underhill (standing next to Mayor Leppert in this picture I took) thanked the 100 or so families that helped raise the $13 million so far for the project. And you don’t have to be a mathematician to realize that’s some hefty donating–In fact, all the "million dollar donors" were publicly recognized as part of the ceremony.
Mayor Tom Leppert was there to officially declare May 20 as St. Alcuin Montessori School Day in Dallas from now on. (Hey…you learn something new every day, right?)
Councilwoman Linda Koop and councilman Ron Natinsky were also there to share a few words. In fact, Natinsky dropped a good little scoop: apparently the Dallas International School plans to move to Far North Dallas (somewhere off Frankford), although no official word has been released on it yet. I’ve made a call to that school, and I’ll keep you updated on the details when I get them.
If you’d like to checkout plans and read more about the multi-million dollar project going up on Churchill, you can do so online.
