Enhancing Our 62nd Street Campus
The 1995 film Toy Story has become a cinematic classic, and for many reasons: Its pioneering visual effects, sensitive examination of ebbing childhood innocence, and penchant for coaxing belly laughs from kids and adults alike, among others. One of the central conflicts in the film unfolds between Woody, the cowboy and longtime favorite toy in a young boy’s box, and Buzz Lightyear, an astronaut and newcomer who seems to have replaced Woody at the top of the toy heap. Eventually, the old standby and the shiny new toy move from animosity to uneasy alliance to genuine (if comedic) harmony, but the effort to reconcile the tried and true with the latest and greatest presents its fair share of challenges.
All of this brings me to our current construction project. Our community is excited about the developments at the new Upper School site on East 64th Street, and understandably so; indeed, we know that there is a need for space and facilities commensurate with our older boys’ interests and talents. At the same time, we should remember our schoolhouse on East 62nd Street, which has served us well, and will continue to provide a great home to the majority of our students, faculty, and staff in the years ahead. To strain the motion picture metaphor to the breaking point: It’s great to introduce our own Buzz Lightyear, but our Woody is an irreplaceable part of the community, too. We must not leave him at the bottom of the toy box.
Amidst all the excitement about the new building, families will sometimes wonder how we plan to keep our present facility relevant, inspiring, and supportive for our Lower and Middle School students. These important questions have also been on our mind as we examine how to best redefine our current space to provide rich and intentional experiences for our K-8 boys.
Here are some priorities that we are currently emphasizing in our planning:
Expanded areas for indoor play and physical education
A middle school lounge for relationship-building, peer interaction, and social programming
Reimagined counseling and learning center spaces to enhance and extend the impact of these support programs for our boys
Increased access to science laboratories for hands-on and experiential learning
Updated technology and maker spaces to support growth and innovation in student design and engineering
Enhanced art and performance rooms to expand opportunities for creativity and teamwork in visual arts and music
“Flex spaces” to promote collaborative academic work, group learning, and the gathering of entire grade levels
With these anticipated enhancements in place at the opening of the 2025-2026 school year, we will have created a bespoke K-8 learning space at 62nd Street that promotes boys' mobility, collaboration, imagination, and connection.
Even as we attempt to go to infinity and beyond with our new Upper School building, we’ve still got a friend in East 62nd Street, and we will make sure that it has a lot more story to tell.