CHESTERTOWN — “Together We Soar,” Kent School’s $2.3 million campaign to expand its middle school and grow its endowment, received a major boost earlier this month in a $250,000 commitment to name the new innovation center, which will be built on a 1,600-square foot concrete foundation that was poured in 2012 as a placeholder.
This gift follows a recent family gift of $100,000 to name the middle school science lab and a $50,000 family gift to name a mathematics classroom.
A second challenge grant from another family, also received recently, pledges $100,000 to the endowment if an additional $200,000 is raised from other donors within one year. If the conditions of this challenge are met, funds raised during the campaign for the endowment will reach Kent School’s $1 million goal.
Kent School, an independent day school serving girls and boys from preschool through grade 8, is located at 6788 Wilkins Lane, Chestertown.
“We are immensely grateful to these generous families for making this exciting, new Innovation Center possible and for stimulating significant growth in the School’s endowment,” Head of School Nancy Mugele said in a news release Feb. 7.
The innovation center will include the middle school science lab, middle school mathematics classrooms (both reserved) and visual arts classrooms — including a 3D art studio/Makerspace (reserved) and a 2D art studio for all Kent School students.
“The new Middle School Science Lab will include state-of-the-art equipment for the program designed to teach students the scientific method while focusing on core understanding of key principles in Earth Science, Life Science and Physical Science integrated with environmental science and Chesapeake Bay Studies,” Mugele said in the news release.
These new gifts bring total funds raised in the “Together We Soar” campaign to nearly $2 million.
According to the news release, a number of naming opportunities are still available to help the school raise the necessary funds to complete the campaign.
To finish the campaign, the board of trustees has formed an ad hoc committee with Kent School board President Megan B. Owings ’93, P’25, ‘27; board Vice President Kate Goodall Gray ’90, P ’22, ’25; Trustee Emeritus Chris McClary ’91, P’17, ’19; and Trustee Kathleen Wootton Hurd ’01, P ’29, ’32, ’34.
The committee’s goal is to raise the remaining balance by June 30, 2025.
In a written statement, Owings said: “We are very grateful to all the donors who have brought us to this point and we look forward to working hard this spring to expand the reach of this Campaign to include new donors who wish to be a part of this exciting effort.
“We will talk to alumni, parents, grandparents, friends, as well as businesses, corporations and foundations to raise the necessary funds to complete this Campaign.
“In addition to making outright gifts and pledges, we hope donors will also consider joining the Luminary Society by making Kent School a part of their estate plans.”
Owings said the plan is to break ground in late spring and complete the project by September 2025.
For more information about the campaign, visit
https://www.kentschool.org/together-we-soar-campaign, call Mugele at at 410-778-4100 or email nmugele@kentschool.org.
