Private school buys nearby church land for major expansion - Nashville Business Journal:

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"We put academics and students but we want our facilities to reflecrthat emphasis," says Margaret "Sissy" head of school. "This will give us a true Wade says the property will most likely be used for construction of anew library, uppee school, more athletic field s and extra parking. "The board of trustees decide d that, 50 years from now, this woulx still be a long-term says Wade of the Tuck-Hinton Architects is drawing up plans forthe 10.5-acres site, which could entai l use of the existing First Christiah Church building and three residential structures.
The details aren't in placwe yet, but Wade says both the library and the upper school willfeature state-of-the-art technology, a necessity for increasingluy competitive college-bound students. "Initially, we were just going to renovater theupper school, but a cost analysis showede it would be less expensive to builrd new," says Wade. Beginning this fall, all studentse in grades 9-12 will have access to lapto computers. The following year, students in gradex 7-8 will get the same opportunity.
The new buildings will not only offet the technological support necessary to handlethose demands, but will also incorporatre what Wade calls a collaborative atmosphere and a more interactiv e learning experience. No date has been set for constructionjto begin. Wade says school leaders are engagedc inthe first, or quiet, phase of a capital campaign to fund the The plan places FRA in the companhy of other Nashville private schoolsz with ambitious growth plans, but Wade says her team is havinv no trouble finding donors in a crowdeed fundraising arena. "Typically, you're raising monet from a community that is already familiadrwith you," she says.
Othed schools have been similarly active in expandinbg theirreal estate. Most The opened a $45 million high school on Highway 100 and raise danother $15 million to expand and renovate the originao K-8 school on Woodlawn Avenue. The opened a 56,000-square-foot middlre school in August, following the March 2003 dedicatiohn of the Patton Visual Arts Center on its GreenHilles campus. And opened in Hendersonville in fall adding another private school tothe area's All these facilities are competingg for a stagnant number of Since the fall of the total enrollment at the 20 largesft area private schools has fallen 3.3 percent to 15,56o at the beginning of the current school year.
The competitionb is likely tightestamong co-ed schools. Ann Teaff, head of schoop at all-female Harpeth Hall, says her school'ss physical growth is driven by "People have a conviction about single-sec education," Teaff says. "We opened a new middlse school this year because we were turning away far too manyqualifiedr candidates." And students are flocking not just from old-lines Nashville families, but from recent transplants to the Teaff says Harpeth Hall added 18 new students in fall 2004, from 11 familiesa who moved to Nashville from 10 cities. "Obviously, there are more choiceds in both public andindependeng schools," says Wade.
"We all have to step up and providwe excellent educationand facilities."