Advance Friends Select: Part One

The objectives of the plan were set before the Head of School Michael Gary arrived at FSS. Michael said a big part of his role as the head of the school is to lead FSS to achieve the goals in the plan.

According to Michael, this strategic plan, further developed by his administration team, would be approved by the board along the way for detail check-ups and would be carried out by the various committees. This plan would involve people from the whole school, across departments and divisions.

Part I: Use of Space- “See Classes in action.”

One part of the plan is to develop a comprehensive facilities master plan.  

“You know our lease of 1700 building will end in 2 years,” Michael said. This time, the administration decided to figure out a way to incorporate the Art and History classrooms into the main building, rather than letting them stay by continuing to rent their current space.

“We want to bring students under one roof,” Michael noted.

In terms of usage of the space, the school wants to rearrange the current space to not only create rooms for the Art and History classrooms, but also make the learning environment more appealing to students visually and physically.

“When you walk into our school from the gate, you cannot see a studying place in front of you,” Michael stated. “We want the experience of seeing classes in action.”

Michael shared some designs of what the reconstructed building might look like. In one drawing, “The front plaza would have lamps on the sides, leading to our gate,” he said. In another he showed, the front part of the building has lamps rooted on the ground in front. In another, there is a stairway facing the front door that leads to the second floor.

The outside is not the only part that would be renovated. Inside the building, the structural arrangement would also go through a dramatic change.

“The front office, the admission office, and the Head’s office are moved to the right side of the front lobby. The back office (where the business office is) would all be moved to somewhere else,” Michael mentioned. Therefore, the Art and History classrooms would fill up the space left by the back office. People would walk into our school and go straight to the exhibition of the world of Art.

Another possible renovation would be the change of the entrance to the second floor. There might be a  stairway in the front lobby leading to a studying area that comprises minimalist round tables and chairs to create a communal and bright studying environment.

“You know those companies’ workplaces in Silicon Valley, like Lyft and Google–they have open and transparent offices that bring people together,” Michael mentioned. By creating a studying space more group-centered, the school would foster collaborative working experience among students, which prepares them for their future life in college and the workplace.

Next to the studying area, a library would look out to the front plaza through its floor-to-ceiling windows. The glass walls would be in between the hallway and library to make the interior of the building more transparent. Such design would make students more connected with the school and enable the academic atmosphere to circulate well from every corner of the school, reinforcing the idea of “seeing classes in actions.”

Other than the reconstruction of the front, the structural arrangement of the lower school and cafeteria section of the building will remain the same. According to Michael, if the plan got approved by the board, the construction would most like take place during summer breaks.

“There is a meeting with the board in mid-November. We will discuss the details about the plans by then.” Michael said with an optimistic smile.

Next time, we will have articles on the other part of the strategic plan. Stay tuned.

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Advance Friends Select: Part II