Exciting Announcement from Our Head of School

For the past two years, school leaders, the Wellan Board of Trustees, and representatives from Sacred Heart Parish have been working behind the scenes on plans to make significant improvements to the Wellan campus. The goal of this work has been to design a facilities plan that aligns with the school mission, helping us to better “prepare the environment” for students in ways that stimulate and support their natural desires to explore and achieve.

I am now thrilled to announce a major development in these efforts! As the result of this group’s hard work, Wellan is poised to embark on the School’s most ambitious facilities project to date—a multi-million dollar major building expansion project designed to solve building accessibility, enhance collaborative learning, and facilitate community-building.

Architects' rendering of new rear facade of the school building at 80 Crescent Avenue

In the coming year, Wellan will be constructing a brand new 5,000 square foot addition to the 80 Crescent Avenue building. This new space, which will fill in what is now a U-shaped courtyard area at the rear of the school, will contain a gross motor playspace for Beginners, Specials classrooms, a main floor community gathering space, a large student collaboration area, and several offices. A new elevator tower will provide access to three floors as well as the playground. A lift will provide access from the lower level into the gym.

Work will begin this summer, on Monday, June 17, 2024, and is expected to be completed by Spring, 2025.

This important project will accomplish the following long-standing goals:

• Address equity and inclusion by creating a fully accessible campus that allows students or adults using mobility devices to reach every floor of our buildings and all areas of the playground.

• Provide intentionally designed spaces for all disciplines and activities, including a dedicated space for our growing world languages program, a gross motor exploration room for our youngest students, and additional offices.

• Create a large open meeting area for student collaboration activities and flexible programming.

• Be able to welcome all members of the Wellan community—and visitors—into a community gathering space that can be used for receptions, group presentations, and assemblies.

• Reconfigure and update the playground with accessible paths and rubberized surfaces, a revamped drainage system, and new playground features.

We are happy to be working on this project with our friends at STA Design, who have served as the architects for previous successful Wellan projects. Our selected contractor, Matthes Construction, has extensive experience managing building projects in schools, hospitals, and other occupied spaces, so we are confident that appropriate efforts will be made to ensure safety and minimize disruption of summer and school year operations.

Our school environment will be significantly transformed by this new addition in multiple ways that benefit students. I look forward to sharing more information with you in the Fall about this bold initiative, including ways you can become involved in supporting it. 

Warmly,

Beth

Elizabeth T. Black

Head of School

Wellan Montessori School