St. Andrew's Breaks Ground on New Kindergarten, Eleanor Hall
On November 5th, St. Andrew's broke ground on its new kindergarten building in a room filled with Lower School students, faculty, families and friends of the school. The rainy weather required an indoor service, so shovels were turned inside Nazro Hall in a beautiful ceremony commemorating the groundbreaking of this historic project and revealing the name of the new building: Eleanor Hall.
In his remarks, Head of Lower School Kama Bruce said, "It is with tremendous gratitude and humility that I stand with you to share this moment. It is moments like these that we capture a feeling, and for today that feeling is hope. We have come together today to celebrate hope in its greatest form, the investment in our future, the investment in our children. With this groundbreaking we start our journey as the first K-12 Episcopal School in Central Texas."
In the fall of 2013, the Daughters of Charity were concluding their ministry in Austin and approached St. Andrew’s administrators about purchasing their residence next to the School’s 31st Street campus. Sisters Gertrude, Helen, and Catherine hoped that their home of 30 years could continue to be a place tied to God's work, which timed perfectly with the Board’s vote in early 2013 to establish a kindergarten program. The land was purchased shortly thereafter for development into a state-of-the-art Kindergarten Center. The architecture firm STANTEC was hired to help dream the design for the new kindergarten building and fundraising began for this $3.5 million dollar campaign.
Designed specifically for kindergarten teaching and learning, Eleanor Hall will have 5,000 square feet of indoor learning space, and is being intentionally designed to bring the “outside in,” including extensive natural light, outdoor exploration space and learning opportunities with natural gardens, native landscaping, water catchment systems for environmental teaching, and creative space for play. It is an innovative and progressive design coupled with a nurturing and invigorating curriculum intended to inspire our youngest students.
Aside from special reading and academic areas, music classrooms, chapel, and creative play spaces, the design also includes a main Makerspace classroom for our early innovators, with science, technology, engineering, art and math opportunities (STEAM) that will inspire our kindergarteners and give them the space and tools to think both critically and creatively.
During the offering, first grade students brought baskets filled with student-written "hopes and dreams" for the new kindergarten, which will be poured into the foundation of Eleanor Hall as a permanent memory and reminder of the great hopefulness for this new program at St. Andrew's.
Bremond Berry MacDougall '84, along with her husband Michael MacDougall '84, provided the lead gift for the kindergarten and chose to name the kindergarten building in honor of Bremond's mother, the late Eleanor Gammon Berry, a 1958 graduate of St. Andrew's. The family has a long history with St. Andrew's: Bremond's grandmother, Eleanor Stayton Gammon, helped found St. Andrew's in 1952. Bremond spoke about her mother's love of learning in her remarks and reminded students of the joy that comes from learning in a place like St. Andrew's school.
"You all have written down your hopes and dreams for the new Kindergarten," said Bremond. "I think my mom would share those hopes and dreams; that the Kindergarten will be a place of joyful learning. Some of you may have little brothers or sisters in the first Kindergarten class next year. How lucky they will be to be there at the very beginning, just as Eleanor was. And how lucky we all are to be a part of this wonderful new addition to this school that we all love."
Construction on Eleanor Hall will begin soon with the expectation of a Fall 2016 opening. St. Andrew's looks forward to welcoming 48 new kindergarteners to the program and is deeply grateful to the generous families, trustees, alumni, and friends of the school who have given of their time and resources to begin this magnificent new kindergarten for St. Andrew's Episcopal School.
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In the fall of 2013, the Daughters of Charity were concluding their ministry in Austin and approached St. Andrew’s administrators about purchasing their residence next to the School’s 31st Street campus. Sisters Gertrude, Helen, and Catherine hoped that their home of 30 years could continue to be a place tied to God's work, which timed perfectly with the Board’s vote in early 2013 to establish a kindergarten program. The land was purchased shortly thereafter for development into a state-of-the-art Kindergarten Center. The architecture firm STANTEC was hired to help dream the design for the new kindergarten building and fundraising began for this $3.5 million dollar campaign.
Designed specifically for kindergarten teaching and learning, Eleanor Hall will have 5,000 square feet of indoor learning space, and is being intentionally designed to bring the “outside in,” including extensive natural light, outdoor exploration space and learning opportunities with natural gardens, native landscaping, water catchment systems for environmental teaching, and creative space for play. It is an innovative and progressive design coupled with a nurturing and invigorating curriculum intended to inspire our youngest students.
Aside from special reading and academic areas, music classrooms, chapel, and creative play spaces, the design also includes a main Makerspace classroom for our early innovators, with science, technology, engineering, art and math opportunities (STEAM) that will inspire our kindergarteners and give them the space and tools to think both critically and creatively.
During the offering, first grade students brought baskets filled with student-written "hopes and dreams" for the new kindergarten, which will be poured into the foundation of Eleanor Hall as a permanent memory and reminder of the great hopefulness for this new program at St. Andrew's.
Bremond Berry MacDougall '84, along with her husband Michael MacDougall '84, provided the lead gift for the kindergarten and chose to name the kindergarten building in honor of Bremond's mother, the late Eleanor Gammon Berry, a 1958 graduate of St. Andrew's. The family has a long history with St. Andrew's: Bremond's grandmother, Eleanor Stayton Gammon, helped found St. Andrew's in 1952. Bremond spoke about her mother's love of learning in her remarks and reminded students of the joy that comes from learning in a place like St. Andrew's school.
"You all have written down your hopes and dreams for the new Kindergarten," said Bremond. "I think my mom would share those hopes and dreams; that the Kindergarten will be a place of joyful learning. Some of you may have little brothers or sisters in the first Kindergarten class next year. How lucky they will be to be there at the very beginning, just as Eleanor was. And how lucky we all are to be a part of this wonderful new addition to this school that we all love."
Construction on Eleanor Hall will begin soon with the expectation of a Fall 2016 opening. St. Andrew's looks forward to welcoming 48 new kindergarteners to the program and is deeply grateful to the generous families, trustees, alumni, and friends of the school who have given of their time and resources to begin this magnificent new kindergarten for St. Andrew's Episcopal School.
