Head of School Robert W. Hill III last week announced that the Williston Northampton School will begin construction on a new girls dormitory this summer. The 40-bed residence hall, with four attached faculty homes, is slated to open in the fall of 2020, and will complete the plan for the school’s Residential Quad, which began in October, 2017. “The Board of Trustees and Board Chair John Hazen White Jr. ’76 have enthusiastically authorized the school to move ahead,” said Hill. “It’s a time of great momentum for Williston Northampton.”
The new residence hall will be located along Brewster Avenue, to the south of John Hazen White House, and opposite the 194 Main Street dorm. The building’s design will be in keeping with other dorms on the Quad, employing a floor plan with a large common area for studying, socializing, and student life programming. The project extends the school’s strong commitment to energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, using the same technologies as its sister dorms: geothermal heating and cooling, high efficiency fixtures, and solar-heated hot water systems.
Creating a Residential Quad is a key part of Williston’s 2014 Strategic Plan, a main tenet of which is enhancing the school’s robust boarding-school culture. “We’ve already seen it happening,” says Dean of Students Kathy Noble. “Ninth grade boys in John Hazen White House and girls in 194 Main Street have forged even stronger bonds of camaraderie and friendship because of purposeful student life programming and proximity around a welcoming space. We expect that community-building to continue and deepen with the opening of this new dormitory.”
When the new dorm opens in the fall of 2020, a full 60 percent of the school’s boarding community will live on the Residential Quad. “This area has become a second center of gravity for the school,” says Hill. “It enhances our already tightly-knit community and positions the school for the future.”
Read more about Williston’s building projects here.