Breaking Ground

Give Now!

The Academic Commons

Dear Episcopal Families and Community Members,

On May 30, 2017, members of the faculty, staff, students and parents joined together with guests including board members, alumni, community stakeholders, and Capital Campaign Cabinet members to break ground on the school’s new Academic Commons building. This facility, the first new academic building on our campus in over a decade, will serve as a multi-purpose facility with state of the art classrooms and lab spaces for science, technology, engineering, math, entrepreneurial and innovative courses.

The Academic Commons is part of our “Spirit, Mind, Body” campaign that began three years ago with planning the renovation of The Lewis Family Memorial Chapel of the Good Shepherd. With the Chapel renovation now complete and its costs covered in cash and pledges, we are thrilled to expand to a capital campaign focused on the Academic Commons. Our Development Team spent the past school year in a silent fundraising phase; as of today, we have over half of the project costs of the Academic Commons covered by cash and pledges. Many special giving opportunities remain available.

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The 27,000 square foot Academic Commons building will be home to 17 new learning spaces. It was designed by Bobby Boudreaux and a team from Crump Wilson Architects. Cangelosi Ward General Contractors, led by Robert Ward, has already commenced construction. In addition to classrooms, suites and project spaces, new modes of teaching and learning, balanced with traditional classroom instruction, will be incorporated as part of innovative learning in the Academic Commons. Math and science offerings with creativity and entrepreneurship will also be added.  Episcopal students will benefit from interactions with visiting teachers and lecturers, as well as strategic relationships with outside specialists throughout the community. The Academic Commons will be located on the east side of campus between the Chapel and the Aldrich Library. Construction is slated to begin immediately, with a targeted completion date of August 2018.

It is the overall health and strength of our school community that makes it possible now to consider this capital investment. Everything you have done over the years to support the school - participation in the Parents’ Guild, Squires, serving lunch, feeding teams, supporting The e-Fund and the Campus Bounce Back Fund, volunteering, partnering with our faculty and staff, referring mission appropriate students, sacrificing to pay tuition, active Board service, and on and on - has helped us get to this sanguine point. The school is strong because of your ongoing support.

Now, your help is needed to fund completion of the Academic Commons through cash gifts or through pledges over three to five years. Investments to the “Spirit, Mind, Body” campaign will help fulfill the mission and ministry of our school and will positively affect the life of each student. To learn how you can support this campaign and to explore giving opportunities, please visit the Capital Campaign website at www.spiritmindbodybr.org. If you are in need of additional information or if you have questions regarding ways you can support Episcopal and honor or memorialize someone of importance to you, I invite you to reach out to me directly or contact a member of our Development Team.

​Now is the time, friends, for us to ensure Episcopal’s continued educational leadership in Baton Rouge. Please consider a gift to help build momentum.
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Sincerely,
Hugh M. McIntosh

Leading the groundbreaking ceremony were community members Scott Berg, Episcopal alumnus ‘94 and parent; Robert Ward of Cangelosi Ward, General Contractors; Bobby Boudreaux, Architect at Crump Wilson; Jennifer Eplett Reilly, Former Board Member and Episcopal parent; John Kojis, Director of Operations; Hugh McIntosh, Head of School; Michael Ferachi, Former Board Chair; Jewel Reuter, Associate Head of School; and Sean Reilly, Co-Chair of the Capital Campaign Cabinet, Board Member, Episcopal alumnus ‘79 and parent. Not photographed: Todd Graves, Co-Chair of the Capital Campaign Cabinet, Episcopal alumnus ‘90 and parent.