School to build Centennial Center, embarks on $100 million campaign

South Elevation Renderings courtesy of Good Fulton & Farrell Architets

South Elevation Renderings courtesy of Good Fulton & Farrell Architets

 The Hockaday School

is working on its largest campaign in the school’s 100-year history by seeking to raise $100 million for its new Centennial Center, recruitment of faculty and a new faculty-in-residence program. Hockaday will renovate its Science Facility and Arts Facility, while creating a space between the two buildings where the arts and sciences can be studied in an interdisciplinary manner, says Melissa Allan, director of communications. The building will be known as the Centennial Center, where a refurbished auditorium and state-of-the-art classrooms will bring the school into the 21st century, Allan says. You can read about the school’s history and participate in its campaign through its Centennial microsite that launches this month. Additional renovations include a new third floor to the science building with redesigned classrooms and a planetarium. Residence facilities will be upgraded to include housing for the new faculty-in-residence program in which teachers and staff will live on campus with their families. “This is a new concept for us,” Allan says. “Some of the stronger residence programs in the country do this, and it bolsters and strengthens the program. It will be more like a family unit.” Part of the renovation of the housing began late last month. Hockaday will also use a portion of the money to recruit more faculty and to provide additional financial aid to girls looking to attend the school ­­— of the school’s 1,084 students, 18 percent receive financial aid. Allan says the school underwent years’ worth of planning for the center and its campaign, which has already raised more than $55 million; there’s no deadline as to how long the project will take, but construction will begin when school lets out for the summer.