RCDS Unveils Renovation Plans for Innovative Learning Spaces

The Rumson Country Day School is thrilled to announce a significant renovation project that marks a crucial step toward maintaining state-of-the-art facilities for the school community and promises to enhance the educational experience for its students. The primary focus of the project is the creation of a collaborative design lab, or makerspace which will serve as a hub for hands-on learning, equipped with cutting-edge technology and tools that aim to nurture creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving skills. In addition to the makerspace, the plan includes a completely renovated woodshop, library, and school store.

"This renovation aligns with our commitment to provide students with a challenging and dynamic learning environment while promoting modern 21st century skills,” said Head of School Carson T. Smith. “The new makerspace will encourage our students to develop a growth mindset by emphasizing learning through experimentation and interaction, and it will allow our existing efforts in these areas to grow and broaden in a room designed specifically for this purpose.”

The makerspace will not only support the existing curriculum but will also introduce new opportunities through an expanded academic program that will impact students in all grade levels from Nursery through grade eight.

In addition to the makerspace, the plans include relocating and renovating the RCDS woodshop, a strategic move that will bring the woodshop, makerspace, two science laboratories, and the art rooms into close proximity, providing further programmatic benefits and opportunities for collaboration. A fully renovated library will be constructed to boast a stunning environment worthy of RCDS’s robust library program. This will ensure that the library becomes the heart of campus, offering a place for students to choose their next great read, learn how to navigate online literacy, provide unlimited resources for research, and a quiet study area to support their everyday learning.

Furthermore, the school store Gator Alley will move to a new location, featuring a window that opens to the athletic fields which gives the RCDS Parent Council the ability to sell food, drinks, and merchandise during athletic contests, fulfilling a long-standing aspiration and building upon the sense of school community.

RCDS has partnered with NK Architects, a top architectural firm with a proven track record of working with a long list of prestigious schools and universities. The timeline for completion is set for the start of the school year in September 2024. Work has already commenced and is expected to continue with minimal disruption through the end of the school year.

"This renovation is the first step in what we hope will be a series of upgrades in the coming years," added Mr. Smith. "I am grateful to our exceptional Board of Trustees for their support and am excited about the transformative impact this development will have on our school."

Click here for renderings.