In a letter to the Northwood School Community, Head of School Mr. Michael Maher today announced that necessary funds have been raised to open Northwood on Main at the beginning of the 2019-20 school year. The announcement comes following the fall Board of Trustees meeting in Lake Placid October 26-27, 2018.
This rendering of Northwood on Main was included in today’s announcement.
The iconic downtown Lake Placid building, most recently occupied by With Pipe and Book, was purchased by Northwood School late in 2015 and was originally projected to open in the 2016-17 school year. The building has sat vacant since the school purchased it.
What follows is Mr. Maher’s letter to the community:
Dear Alumni, Families, and Friends of Northwood School,
I write to you today with exciting news about Northwood’s continued commitment to the growth and education of young people.
In the fall of 2016, Northwood School announced the Campaign for Northwood School on Main, an aspirational investment in Northwood’s future, our students, and the residents of the Adirondacks. Phase one of the campaign launched with a goal of raising $2.5 million for the renovation of a state-of-the-art facility, anchored in the heart of Main Street, Lake Placid.
Today, I am proud to announce the successful completion of phase one of our campaign and the Northwood School Board of Trustees’ approval to begin immediate construction on the facility.
Pre-construction planning and work is well underway and the Board has approved a timeline that projects major construction activity in the spring and summer of 2019, with the goal of opening the facility in the early part of the 2019-2020 academic year.
Northwood on Main, modeled after nationally acclaimed programs such as the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy, MIT’s Media Lab, and Stanford’s D School, symbolizes Northwood’s commitment to educational leadership in the 21st century. The facility will be home to Northwood’s new Department of Innovation, Engineering, and Entrepreneurship, offering hands-on, project-based learning in emerging fields of study and occupation such as innovation with design thinking, 3-D modeling, robotics, and entrepreneurship, to name a few.
The combination of Northwood on Main’s facilities and academic programming will provide a collaborative and creative environment for young people to explore a broad range of interests that share the focus of real-world application. The mission of Northwood on Main is to prepare young people to be leaders in fields that innovate solutions to the challenges of our global community.
I wish to express our sincerest gratitude to the Northwood School trustees, alumni, families, and friends who, through their extraordinary vision and generosity, have made Northwood on Main a reality.
In the coming months we look forward to updating you on the progress of Northwood on Main and sharing the multitude of opportunities that our students, faculty, alumni, families, and members of the Adirondack community will have to partner with Northwood School in innovation and creative learning.
Best Regards,
Michael Maher
Head of School
