After several seasons of planning, fundraising, and construction, Bolles’s new building, the Center for Innovation, may be in use as early as spring break of this school year.
Ben Bradley, a construction worker on the building, said, “Building a center for innovation is bringing science, technology, engineering and math to the forefront.” This building will revolutionize the school’s learning and make a better environment here at Bolles.
When questioned on what will stand out about this building compared to the rest, Bradley said, “Bolles Hall was built 100 years ago, in this very Mediterranean, traditional model, and then you’ve got the Fine Art Center, which is much more of an art deco kind of design.” The new building will be a standout with its very modern structure but should still seem in balance with the other styles.
It will provide a nice change in scenery and will show that as much as Bolles is traditional, it is also constantly innovating and making major improvements to campuses and curriculum.
“The amount of labor hours that go into the development and planning even before the first piece of structural steel goes up – there was a year in the making before anything even went in the ground,” Bradley said.
According to Bolles President and Head of School Mr. Hodges, the building will be used much like Bolles Hall: “We want it to be a place that students use all the time, not just for class. On every floor, there are spaces that are designed for students to be able to study. They can just sit down and hang out and relax. In some of the open spaces, we’re putting in furniture and monitors.” Not only will it be a great new place for education but also a homey space that will bring the community closer here at Bolles.
In keeping with the key word “innovation,” the Center for Innovation is going to have state of the art classrooms and 12 sophisticated specialty labs, including spaces for anatomy, biology and a chemistry lab instruction. The new building will provide areas for all math classes, all science classes, a robotics makerspace, a digital photography studio, and possible new electives. These new electives would more than likely be engineering or entrepreneurship based.
This space will be used for many things and has cutting-edge technology built for creativity. “You will even be able to write on the walls,” Hodges said.
Hodges, along with the rest of the Bolles faculty and staff, is looking forward to this building on multiple fronts. “I don’t want this just to be a fancier place where we do the same thing that we’ve always done. My goal for the teachers is this space is going to allow them to do things I’ve always wanted to do. Different projects, different longer projects. I wanted them to dream so that they could really take us to the next level of our instruction.”
The Center for Innovation’s main focus will be on the science, technology, and engineering but will add so much more. The new technology will change Bolles for the better and ultimately help push students to become the future innovators that they are.
