The Living Campus

Late last week I was out watching a game and I heard one of my favorite phrases from an opposing team’s parent: Wow. What an amazing campus. There is no question that we enjoy one of the most impressive physical learning spaces for young people at day schools in the country. With the weather suddenly being glorious for the past ten days (I feel like we are finally being paid back for the winter), I can’t help but feel reborn again in my connection to the physical space of the Hilltop.

         

Recently, our trustees had their annual retreat, where one of the major points of emphasis was a conversation about long-term campus planning. The conversation had many components. As we speak, Berwick is undergoing its first true facility audit by an expert from Virginia. After two weeks of detailed analysis of our physical home, we will be empowered with a new dynamic database to consider future campus renewal issues in a more thoughtful and proactive way.  The second piece is that we are currently interviewing firms to help us consider the future of our campus plan in very practical ways. While we do not have an agenda of growing total enrollment, we do see some very real needs emerging: parking, safety and security, innovation spaces, and the potential of a new performing arts center someday, are all on the wish list. The conversation about planning, however, appropriately draws one back to mission. How do we want our students and adults to physically interact during their work here? What new spaces might we actually need vs. what current spaces could be re-purposed for more effective use? How do we balance our desire to continue growing and evolving with the essential mandate of taking care of what we have?

          

My first job out of college was teaching and living at a boarding school on the big island of Hawaii. Of the many lessons I learned out there, it being my first extended living time away from New England, was the fact that the land was a spiritual and living thing. It was an actual member of that community. I find that, as my tenure in South Berwick deepens, my family’s spiritual connection to the physical space is growing. Last week, for example, the Administration led a campus wide litter clean up after the snow melt, and I found myself plunging through pricker bushes to grab that last Dunkin Donuts cup that had been discarded in the Fogg parking lot. With the arrival of our new Facilities Director, Jason Murray, the attention to detail we are starting to see on the campus is exciting. We are even contemplating another “gateway” project this summer near the rear of the Middle School to compliment the improvements we have made at the Commons, Fogg Hill, and the circle below BD.

         

I believe the campus impacts learning and builds our sense of community. While our people are the most important resource we have, the campus is likewise a huge asset to be leveraged. It also requires stewardship. Just today, I passed three Berwick Mom’s who had dropped off their children at the Lower School and were headed to the cross-country trails for a walk in the woods. I would encourage you to do the same; the Hilltop is a remarkable place.