Palm Beach Day Academy student Blake Day, 5, leaves handprints on the outside wall of the the administration building Tuesday. Director of Development Cynthia Kanai said, “This is a way to connect our children to the history of these classrooms.” The building is scheduled to be demolished next month."
By David Rogers – Daily News Staff Writer
The Palm Beach Day Academy is breathing life into its philosophy — that success comes from a well-rounded education conducted in an interactive environment — by building an $8 million education center on its lower campus in West Palm Beach.
The lower campus teaches grades pre-K to 3. The upper school, on Seaview Avenue in Palm Beach, teaches grades 4-9.
The new school building will feature flexible classroom spaces, a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) laboratory, a language studio, library and indoor/outdoor class space.
“It really does expand our vision of what education looks like for the 21st century,” Edwin Gordon, the incoming head of school, wrote via email.
The school plans to raise an additional $750,000 for state-of-the-art technology and STEM programming, according to Gordon.
Mayor Gail Coniglio, West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio and U.S. Congresswoman Lois Frankel were among the 150 people who participated in the May 10 ground-breaking ceremony. Coniglio’s son, Nicolas, attended the school as did one of her daughters, Janmarie. Now Janmarie Cook, she teaches English literature, drama and speech/debate at PBDA. Coniglio’s grandchildren, 9-year-old Topher, 7-year-old Piper and 5-year-old Calvitt, attend the Day Academy.
To make way for the new building, Ibis Construction Corp. anticipates demolishing the lower school’s administrative office and pre-primary classroom building and the assembly building (formerly Unity Church) on June 20. The goal is to finish site preparation before school starts in the fall.
A yet-to-be-named company will start construction in the fall of the building designed by Harvard Jolly Architecture of West Palm Beach. The target for completion is fall 2017.
A second structure, for arts and athletics, will be built later on part of the land being cleared in June.
On Tuesday, students said goodbye to the old buildings by leaving their handprints in paint on the administrative building’s walls.
Palm Beacher Frances Fisher attended the May 10 groundbreaking with her son, Harrison. Fisher said programming that is more experiential and project-based allows pupils to learn how to investigate topics, solve problems and work together.
“The vision for this building is to create an environment on the lower campus that is flexible — enabling our youngest students to explore, discover and collaborate in creative ways,” Fisher said. The school has “tremendous support” in Palm Beach and the broader community, she said.
