Financing a New Junior High School
GOAL: $30,000,000
In the fall of 2000 Westminster’s Board of Trustees, President Bill Clarkson, Ellen Fleming—teacher, mentor, and Junior High School Principal from 1990-2003—and a committee of dedicated faculty began a remarkable quest. An innovative vision grew from their exploration, the realization of which now stands prominently and symbolically located between the Elementary School and the High School on Westminster’s campus. The new Junior High School is a state-of-the-art building that accommodates both the unique needs of the junior high student and the faculty who nurture their academic, spiritual, and emotional growth. What began as a wish list for the “ultimate learning environment” now stands as a building filled with the laughter, exuberant energy, and wonder of children engaged in creative discovery.
With an enrollment of 557 students in grades sixth through eighth, the Junior High School opened its doors for the 2005-2006 academic year in its new 103,000 square-foot home located behind Scott Hall. The new building replaces a facility originally built to house the Elementary School and designed to accommodate only 300 students. The opening of the new Junior High School, which has been greeted enthusiastically by faculty, students, and parents, creates a more unified campus, linking the new facility aesthetically and functionally with the existing Elementary School and the High School.
Recognizing the pressing need for a new Junior High facility, infrastructure work on campus roads, and a new Physical Plant in the spring of 2003, the Board of Trustees approved financing the total project at a cost of $26 million through a bond issue that will come due in 2028. Westminster now seeks to raise $20 million in as timely a manner as possible for unrestricted endowment to be used to support the school’s highest priorities.
With the opening of the public phase of Teaching for Tomorrow in October 2006, an exciting challenge was announced: a special friend of the school will generously provide $3 million towards our $20 million goal if Westminster is able to secure $17 million in gifts and pledges by January 2008. With $15.8 million generously committed toward this important objective as of January 10, 2008, we are currently seeking an additional $1.2 million to meet the Challenge.
Westminster also seeks $10 million in endowment funds for the operation and maintenance of the new Junior High School and the support of its educational, technological, and other resource programs. Such funds will ensure that the new Junior High School serves the needs of students and teachers well into the future.
To be successful in meeting the terms of the Challenge, we need your help. To participate in Teaching for Tomorrow and this Challenge is to ensure that Westminster remains as it is today: a place of academic, athletic, and spiritual discovery—an institution that helps to grow and develop the whole child so that they may realize their potential and achieve their dreams.
* Naming opportunities are available. For more information, please contact Michael Perry, Vice President for Institutional Advancement at 404-609-6264 or email michaelperry@westminster.net.