The BOLT

Sage Hill Mulls Historic Step to Launch Middle School

The

Board of Trustees is slated to consider a fundraising campaign in June.

Courtesy of Sage Hill School Middle school students work on an art project at Camp Sage in 2019. Their demographic would be served by the proposed middle school.

By Roya Yaghmai and Isabella De Leon

In a potentially landmark move, Sage Hill School may add a middle school on its existing campus if school leaders agree to fundraise $25 million for construction of a new building serving seventh and eighth graders.

The concept for new classrooms, a cafe and a second gym is still in its early stages, school administrators said. The Board of Trustees must first approve the fundraising campaign at its June meeting.

Head of School Patricia Merz, Assistant Head of School for Academics

Dr. Matt Balossi and the Board ofTrustees are spearheading the historic proposal that would see the school’s maximum enrollment cap increase from 600 to 750 students.

“Sage Hill has already grown tremendously in the last 20 plus years. A potential next step for Sage Hill is to consider providing the excellent Sage Hill experience to a younger population,” Ms. Merz said.

While the construction plans have yet to be finalized and confirmation of a possible middle school’s future is yet to be announced, planning documents show a roughly 38,000-square-foot building that would house eight new classrooms for seventh and eighth graders, an 824-seat gymnasium, an outdoor amphitheater and a second school café.

This proposal is coming to life as school officials work alongside capital campaign consultant, Grenzebach Glier and Associates, on a feasibility study. The creation of a middle school and gym is being carefully considered before any construction begins or curriculum details are conjured up. Sage Hill leaders are seeking donors to fund the entire project; tuition dollars won’t be spun off for construction, school officials said.

“With [creating a middle school], we have the opportunity to continue to grow and change the lives of even more students for generations to come,” said Dr. Balossi when asked about the motivation behind this new project. Additionally, as financial assistance is a founding vision and constant goal for Sage Hill, the school “could move from 12% to 20% of Sage Hill students receiving financial assistance in four years,” Dr. Balossi said.

The possible middle school and second gym were designed within a single building, which would be built on the practice field between the Lisa Argyros and Family Science Center and Hague Field. The proposed middle school would be physically separated from the high school classes and have its own town square, classrooms and cafeteria, while paralleling Sage Hill’s architecture.

“Part of the middle school building would include a second gym. This space would be utilized by students of all grade levels,” Merz said.

Junior Sara Alizadeh, a member of the Sage Hill girls’ varsity basketball team, expressed excitement over this plausible construction. “The addition of a second gym will increase the amount of times all teams receive in the gyms. It [will] allow more practice time and space for the teams to improve,” Sara said.

MIDDLE SCHOOL, PAGE 3