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IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Awty International School Celebrates 60 Years by Breaking Ground on New Early Learning Campus

By Gwen Cario
28-Sep-16
Awty International School Celebrates 60 Years by Breaking Ground on New Early Learning Campus


Photo by Micahl Wyckoff Photography
On September 10, 2016, The Awty International School celebrated its 60th anniversary with a ceremonial groundbreaking for its new Early Learning Campus.
“As an alumna of Awty, and now Chair of the Board of Trustees, I am exceptionally proud of what Awty has become,” remarked Niloufar Molavi during the ceremony. “On this anniversary of our school’s founding, it is only fitting that we break ground on Awty’s next chapter and the facilities that are going to solidify Awty as Houston’s leading choice for early childhood education.”
“These buildings will create, no question about it, the premier early learning facility in Houston for young children,” stated Lisa Darling, Head of School.
The new facility, which will house students in Pre-K3 through first grade, will sit on 5.25 acres and will include 25 classrooms, dining facilities, a teaching kitchen, an art room, a music and media room, a library, and a gym with a theatre stage. The new campus will also include two playgrounds, outdoor classrooms, flexible learning spaces, and student gardens.
The expansion should quintuple what the current preschool space provides to 73,148 square feet. With the additional space, the school will not only move its preschool classes to the new campus, it will also move its first grade classes there as well. This will, in turn, open up classroom space in the current Lower School on the main campus.
“We will now have the best of all worlds,” commented Marie-Dominique Lee, Preschool Teacher. “We will have our own little universe with a child-centered, child appropriate campus for our youngest learners while being connected to a big school with all of the advantages and features that a big school has to offer.”
The Early Learning Campus is a part of the multi-million dollar capital campaign that is currently underway at the school. The projected cost of this development is approximately $16 million.
“We are grateful for the generous support of our current parents and friends of the school,” added Darling. “With their help, the school has steadily moved toward our strategic vision for Awty’s future.”
With gold shovels and Awty hard hats in tow, Awty’s senior administrators, board of trustees, and lead donors ended the event by ceremonially breaking ground on the new campus.
Awty has contracted with architecture firm Shepley Bulfinch and construction company JE Dunn Construction. The school’s new Early Learning Campus is projected to be completed in time for the 2017-2018 school year.




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