History-Making at Bolles
The Bolles School launched the 2021-22 school year on August 12 with many of the typical First Day of School festivities and events, including the annual Senior Breakfast where black dresses and ties were donned along with shades and tiaras. But there are some exciting history-making firsts to take note of.
One historic hallmark of the new year is a near max capacity student body of more than 1,700 students on all four campuses and the reception of boarders from 17 states and 18 countries. These students are joining an already culturally and ethnically diverse community of learners, many bi-lingual. Bolles students in grades Pre-K through 12 come from a variety of backgrounds and a total of 52 countries.
New highs in school advancement and operations add to the energy of the 2021-22 school year. The Bolles Annual Giving Fund is at a 15-year high with $1.7 million and a 40 percent increase in donors. The School’s endowment is up to $25 million, and more than $35 million of the planned $50 million capital campaign has already been fulfilled. This has helped stimulate important enhancement and maintenance work on all four campuses, including changes to the Ponte Vedra Library on the Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus, among many others.
History is in the making at the Upper School San Jose Campus. Bolles Hall will soon have its first elevator installed. In another first, female boarders are moving to new rooms in Bolles Hall later this fall. The expansion project will double the capacity to meet increasing admission demand.
Further, Bolles Hall will be 100 percent solar energy dependent thanks to a new SolarSmart program commitment. “The community benefits not just from the increase in green generation, but also from breathing in cleaner air,” said JEA Media Relations Coordinator Simone Garvey-Ewan.
The full scope of work hinges on future completion of the Center for Innovation, Math and Science building planned for the Upper School San Jose Campus bluff. This building is expected to house the School’s science, math, robotics, and technology offerings and add classroom space displaced by the residence hall expansion.
School Chief Financial Officer Jeff Role shared additional plans to Bolles Hall, including the expansion and reconfiguration of Verlander Hall, which is the indoor dining area, and the creation of a new outdoor dining area.
Renovation to Cain Gymnasium is planned and, as another exciting first for the School, the first full school year of swimming in the Tarver Pool that was installed in the spring.
“There is so much good happening as we begin a new season of cultivating and educating young minds at Bolles,” said Bolles President and Head of School Tyler Hodges.
By Mary Wanser
Resident Community News
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