Alcuin Building New Facilities To Meet Increased Demand
Alcuin School on Churchill Way is building a new West Campus Building to expand campus capacity and provide modern spaces for science instruction and other coursework.
“This fantastic new building is yet another step in Alcuin’s continued growth bringing world-class Montessori and IB educations to the children of Dallas,” head of school Walter Sorensen said.
“This building will allow us to significantly expand our capacity starting in 2020 forward, in order to meet the increased demand we are already seeing from current students wanting to stay at Alcuin and new students applying for acceptance,” he said.
Past and present members of Alcuin’s Board of Trustees and major donors gathered on campus in late August to celebrate the beginning of Phase One. Work on the first phase will extend through July of next year.
“For more than 55 years, Alcuin has been an innovative leader among Dallas schools, and now we enter what may perhaps be the most exciting phase of Alcuin’s history – the modernization and expansion of our West Campus facility which will be the first step of updates to buildings and outdoor spaces across our school,” said Maria Cintron Magennis, president of the board of trustees.
When complete, the new West Campus Building will provide a 55,000-square-foot extended learning environment designed to engage students in collaborative and individual growth.
Phase One, opening for the 2020-2021 school year, will encompass 22,750 square feet of additional innovative space where students and faculty will work, study, create, and imagine.
New facilities in Phase One include three state-of-the-art science labs for biology, chemistry and physics, two dining areas for students of various levels, dedicated space for digital film, six new classrooms and common areas for collaboration, study, and socializing.
Eventually, the full West Campus expansion will include a 450 seat multi-purpose performing arts center, which will enable the school to host a wide variety of events such as art festivals, science
fairs, and academic testing.
Also in the plans are a new music classroom, design lab, and maker space, which will all provide a thought-provoking space for Alcuin students as they question and discover the world around them.
“The Alcuin extended community came together behind our SHINE capital campaign to raise the initial $14 million in funding required to begin this expansion,” Sorenson said. “Throughout its history, Alcuin has grown and thrived due solely to support from forward-thinking members of our community, and this support led us to introduce Alcuin Upper School just a few years ago.
“With our first two graduating upper school classes having achieved a very difficult 100% pass rate on the International Baccalaureate Diploma exams, we are thrilled to continue the momentum on campus with these new facilities,” he said.
