CASE FOR SUPPORT
Our Aim: To prepare Nichols to thrive and excel for its next 100 years
Our Priority: The transformation of two iconic buildings to powerfully support learning for the next century
Our Goal: $40 million
“AT NICHOLS, WE ARE AT THE LEADING EDGE, COMMITTED TO OFFERING AN EXPERIENCE AS EXCELLENT AS ANY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL IN THE NATION.”
Burner, Head of School
Nichols is a school driven by the power of high expectations—and we always will be. Our Strategic Plan prioritizes the goal of providing a nationally recognized academic program—and the superior facilities required to support that program, today and tomorrow. That is the focus of this groundbreaking campaign. As Head of School Chris Burner says, “It’s vital that we have the world-class space our academic mission demands. And we will.”
Although much has changed since Larry Desautels joined the faculty in 1979, he maintains that the school’s excellence is rooted in three constants: “the mission we fulfill, the excellence in teaching and learning, and the strong sense of tradition.” For over 100 years, Albright and Mitchell Halls have stood as symbols of this tradition. So, as we undertake necessary renovations to these buildings, we are committed to preserving the distinctive beauty of their iconic facades and signature interior spaces.
Nichols’ Strategic Plan embraces a vision of ongoing evolution as we explore new collaborations across departments, expanded opportunities for students to develop their talents, and the wisest, most effective ways to address new realities, from AI to future developments yet to come. Our goals are ambitious: to prepare Nichols’ students to think critically in a technologically driven world, to navigate the landscape of digital information wisely, and ultimately, to lead and to innovate in a changing economy and society.
Nichols’ Next Century
“ WE ARE WORKING TO PROVIDE OUR STUDENTS WITH A FOUNDATION OF STRENGTHS THAT WILL SERVE THEM WELL IN A FUTURE NONE OF US CAN YET IMAGINE.”
Our record-breaking All iN campaign brought investment in our people, our programs, and the accessibility of a Nichols education to a historic new level.
The Nichols’ Next Century campaign will focus on our next strategic priority: creating the kind of campus environment essential to excellence in 21st-century teaching and learning.
Generous alumni, parents, and friends have always been the force behind our progress at Nichols. Today, we are building on that success, and the focus is clear: The time has come to invest in key academic buildings. Faculty member Ashley Tibollo ’06 teaches today in a classroom where once she studied as a Nichols freshman. “It looks exactly the same,” she says, “only older. It’s time for a transformation.”
Today, we are moving forward with investments that will transform our campus facilities for decades to come. However, this campaign is about much more than buildings. It’s about our students, their experience, and lessons learned that will last a lifetime. For Phil Coburn and Larry Hiller, who lead our stellar STEM and innovation program, those lessons are invaluable: “We are educating our students to be equipped for careers that don’t even exist today.”
“ALL OF THE EXCITING PLANS NICHOLS IS LAUNCHING SHARE ONE ULTIMATE GOAL: TO EXPAND THE OPPORTUNITIES WE OFFER OUR STUDENTS FOR YEARS TO COME.”
In a world that seems to grow more virtual every day, there is something uniquely valuable about the physical places we share—places like the beautiful and historic campus that has been home to Nichols School for more than 100 years.
The Nichols’ Next Century campaign is an investment in the power of place. Through the campaign, we will ensure that Albright and Mitchell Halls are ready to begin their next 100 years as state-of-the-art and fully accessible centers of teaching and learning.
Guiding all our plans for Nichols School is a laser focus on preparing the campus to embrace both current and future innovations, creating spaces that will support learning today and for the next century.
In addition to these sweeping upgrades to key instructional spaces, the campaign will also fund a historic investment that will position Nichols as a leader in the drive toward environmental sustainability: building the geothermal infrastructure to support Albright and Mitchell Halls today, and with future expansion, our entire campus.
This undertaking provides an opportunity to embark on a path towards a greener and more resilient and stable energy future. By creating a geothermal campus, we will reduce our carbon footprint, combat climate change, and confirm our commitment to ensuring a more sustainable and just planet for generations to come. We are deeply grateful for the enthusiastic early-stage support making this initiative possible.
• Interior renovation will transform classrooms in Albright and Mitchell Halls.
• New furnishings and updated technology will flexibly support instruction in a full range of forms, from independent and small-group project work to whole-class discussion.
• By adopting floor plans featuring appropriately sized and uniformly configured classrooms, we will create highly functional spaces that will not only support our curriculum today but also adapt to meet future needs.
• The Innovation Hub, located in Albright Hall, will support the school’s current array of successful STEM programs and evolve as future offerings focused on digital innovation are developed.
• Nearly twice the size of the current facility, the Hub will include two incubator spaces equipped with a full range of tools and infrastructure for bringing students’ innovative ideas to life.
• A dramatic two-story, glass-enclosed addition will house a competition and demonstration space, an arena for showcasing students’ technological achievements at full scale.
With a full-time team of four professionals, our College Counseling program has never provided families with more robust support and guidance, essential in an increasingly competitive college admissions environment. The program’s newly created space and its location in the heart of student activity will allow students more convenient access, fostering more frequent in-person communication and strengthening the counselor-student relationships at the heart of the program’s success.
• The College Counseling Suite will relocate to newly created space in Mitchell Hall designed for family meetings, college visits, test prep activities, and more.
• Interior refinishing and new skylights will create a bright, expansive, and comfortable space for students and staff.
• Sharing the floor with a student lounge and class deans’ offices, the counseling office will be positioned for maximum accessibility to students—an ideal location for supporting students and their families through their college searches.
• The expansive new instructional spaces will span nearly an entire floor of Mitchell Hall, and include art and digital media classrooms, a darkroom, office space, and more.
• Multiple studio zones will adapt for painting, sculpture, digital media, and group projects.
• Technology integration will allow the use of a range of digital tools, 3D printing and laser cutting, and projection and multimedia setups, while supporting future educational advances.
• Gallery and critique areas will provide ideal space to showcase and discuss work.
Together, the facilities plans at the heart of this campaign will both preserve and transform buildings that have defined the educational experience of Nichols’ students for a century—and that will continue to do so in the century to come.
• In Albright and Mitchell Halls, we will restore the beauty of signature interior areas like the Library and Reading Room.
• We will dramatically upgrade all the instructional spaces in both buildings, with improvements spanning seven floors of classrooms.
• Restrooms will be enlarged and modernized.
• A significant building expansion will result in a dramatic multistory glass-enclosed lab space extending from the back of Albright that will house our new Innovation Hub.
• Key building systems, including electrical, plumbing, and HVAC, will receive critical upgrades, along with new windows, improving both comfort and efficiency.
• Elevators will be added in both buildings and, together with other modifications, will provide full ADA-compliant accessibility.
• We will complete a geothermal installation that will fully power the HVAC systems in Mitchell and Albright Halls, efficiently and sustainably—that will support the expansion of geothermal technology to the rest of campus in the years to come.
For generations of Nichols students, this school has been a place where they have known transformative growth, formed indelible memories, and forged lifelong friendships. And for over 100 years, Albright and Mitchell Halls have provided the stately backdrop for this remarkable experience. Now, our task is to ensure that these buildings—and this experience—are here and able to adapt for the next century of students.
We look forward to talking with you about the part your gift can play in shaping Nichols’ Next Century. Your support will help ensure Nichols’ leadership among independent schools regionally and nationally, and it will be deeply appreciated.
Nichols Next Century Steering Committee
Co-Chairs
Montgomery G. Pooley ’80
W. Scott Saperston ’90 P’20,’22
Honorary Chairs
Jeremy M. Jacobs Jr. ’81 P’14
Jeffrey S. Meyer H’20 P’09,’14,’16
Steering Committee
Kristan Carlson Andersen ’80 P’13,’16
Ramin Arani ’88
Melissa T. Balbach ’83 P’22,’22
Dina Benderson P’25,’29
Todd W. Brason ’76 P’14,’16
Christopher D. Burner
John Darby H’23 P’19,’21,’23
Andrew L. Fors ’91 P’19,’22,’22,’25
Leslie S. Garcia P’14
George T. Laub ’80
“FOR ALL OF US WHO BELIEVE DEEPLY IN NICHOLS AND ITS MISSION, THIS CAMPAIGN PROVIDES AN OUTSTANDING OPPORTUNITY A CHANCE TO MOVE FORWARD AND GIVE BACK.”
Scott Saperston ’90 and Monty Pooley ’80, Campaign Co-Chairs
For Additional Information, Contact: Leslie S. Garcia
Assistant Head of School for Advancement 716.332.5163 or Lgarcia@nicholsschool.org
Jennifer Peresie P’17,’18
Amy Habib Rittling P’25,’26,’28
Joseph Saffire P’24,’24,’26,’28
Nicholas Tzetzo ’91 P’28
Nelson S. Walsh ’80
Theodore B. K. Walsh ’73 P’05,’07,’12
