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Fort Worth Country Day October 2013 Volume 50 Issue 1

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW


Administration plans for new athletic facility
I
n todays rap-
idly changing world,
private schools
are forced to change
with the times or be
left behind. Fort Worth
Country Days new
Capital Campaign will
be benefcial in keeping
the school relevant and
updated by allowing
for renovation and con-
struction to take place
throughout campus, as
well as bolstering the
schools endowment for
fnancial aid and faculty
salaries.
In order to ensure that
the students have access
to the best facilities pos-
sible, FWCD is planning
to construct a new feld
house, although no date
for construction has
been set. But according
to Head of School Evan
D. Peterson, the facilitys
location has already
been confrmed.
The feld house will
be where the tennis
courts are currently, and
the tennis courts will
move across the street
to where the apartment
buildings used to be,
Peterson said.
This move would
likely involve the school fling
with the city of Fort Worth
to close Bryan Henderson
Road to public access, making it a private drive.
More parking for athletic events would also likely
be added in this space.
The new athletic facility will contain a new
basketball arena with permanent seats as op-
posed to the pull-out bleachers currently in use.
Additional amentiies will include new locker
rooms, a new weight room, and two competi-
tion courts, one practice court, and training
rooms. According to Assistant Head of School
Steve Stackhouse, the new athletic facility will be
similar to facilities at Brewer High School, with
a team room and coaches offces similar to the
ones at Brewer. However, the school is still in the
quiet phase of the campaign.
The quiet phase of fundraising is the stage
Connall Mccormack
copy editor
NEWS BRIEFS
in which the school has approved a new project,
but is still gauging support and fnancial options.
As the administration moves forward, the goal
is to raise $21-25 mfllion to fund the new feld
house and focus on the Schools endowment.
While the new athletic building will be the next
construction project the school undertakes, many
more are in the works. According to Peterson,
the school willl look very different in the years
to come. While none of these projects will begin
in the immediate future and are not confrmed,
they are options that have been discussed.
One of the hypothetical options for campus
development is the demolition of the Round
Gym. If the Round Gym was removed, a facade
could be constructed in its place, leaving a grassy
area between the Lou and Nick Martin Cam-
New Falcon Portal Coming
Homecoming Festivities Tonight Financial Aid at $2 Million SPC Championships Nov. 8-9
H
omecoming week is fnally here! Be sure
to make it out to the 50th anniversary
football game at 7:00 p.m. on Friday
night. This game is huge. Not only is it the last
game of the season, but it is also the Battle of
Bryant Irvin, a longstanding rivalry. Come watch
the varsity football team defeat the Trojans and
enjoy food trucks, a jumbotron, and freworks
at the game. See p. 8-9 for more information.
The Homecoming dance is 8:30-10:30 p.m. on
Saturday night in the Upper School Commons.
Go Falcons!
A
lthough Friday night is the last regular
season football game of the year, the
rest of the fall sports teams will still
be competing throughout the next week. On
Nov. 8 and 9, the fall sports teams from all over
Texas and Oklahoma will be heading to Fort
Worth to compete for the frst place title in
SPC. The Upper School students will be out
of school that Friday, Nov. 8 so be sure to come
support your peers as they battle for frst place
in feld hockey, volleyball, football, and cross
country.
F
or the current school year, one in every fve
students is receiving need-based fnancial
aid, with more than $2 million awarded.
FWCDs fnancial aid guidelines state that each
year our returning students are served frst. After
spring enrollment of new students K-12, the
fnancial aid committee meets a second time to
distribute remaining funds as available to new
students. Understandably, the returning students
make up the larger of the two groups. The fnan-
cial aid budget comes from the FWCD restricted
endowment.
pus Center and the Square Gym. A multi-foor
Lower School could be constructed that would
encompass Lower Schoolers as well as kindergar-
teners. The structure of the building would likely
parallel that of the Middle School renovation, with
lower grades on the lower foor and higher grades
upstairs. The Lower School could be connected
to the Square Gym, which would be used for P.E.
and recreational purposes since the new gyms in
the feld house would be so far away.
In the space vacated by the Lower School and
the Kindergarten, a new theater and perfoming
arts center may be constructed.
We need a theater that can seat all our stu-
dents, not just 400, Peterson said.
A new facility would likely have a capacity
of close to 1,000, making it far larger and more
usable than the current 500-seat theater. While
the visual arts facilities received an impressive
makeover when the Sid W. Richardson Visual
Arts Center opened, the performing arts class-
rooms as well as the Upper School remain some
of the most outdated buildings on campus.
Although it has been years since the Upper
School has been updated, there are no current
plans to make any changes.
Were waiting to see what happens with the
online classes, Peterson said.
By waiting to see how technology and educa-
tion as a whole develop, the administration will
be able to renovate the Upper School in a man-
ner that maximizes its effciencey aud suits the
needs of both students and faculty.

S
ometime in the next few weeks, the tech
department will unveil the new Falcon Por-
tal. Although students have not been given
direct information how the portal will change,
teachers have been testing it out recently. The
new site will boast a fresh new look that mirrors
the Facebook home page and an easier naviga-
tion system.
I didnt have much experience with the
former Falcon Portal, but I like the updates. It is
much easier to deal with, US math teacher Ravi
Pillalamari said.
The architects rendering of the proposed eld house is planned to be constructed where the current tennis courts are. It will provide locker rooms for the
sports teams, among many other amenities, which will in turn give the student-athletes a more oonvenient walk to their respective elds. Photo courtesy of
Steve Stackhouse

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