Holy Innocents' Kicks off $22.5 Million Fundraising Campaign for new Building

By Peggy Shaw

Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School kicked off its $22.5-million One School Campaign at a reception and dinner on Tuesday evening at the Atlanta History Center. 

Some 500 members of the school community attended the event, learning more about plans from Atlanta’s Collins Cooper Carusi Architects, Inc., reviewing architectural renderings, and enjoying a special campaign video produced by broadcast students, faculty, and staff.

The One School Campaign, the largest campaign in the school’s 54-year history, will fund the construction of a new math and science building for the Sandy Springs campus, renovations of the Upper School’s Riley Building and Alumni Hall, and an increase in the school’s endowment reserves.

“For more than 50 years, Holy Innocents’ has staked out a special place among Atlanta’s best schools,” said Dave Stockert, campaign chair. “With this campaign, we build on a tradition of generosity and success, to be able to offer the best possible environment for the ongoing growth and development of our students.”

Stockert is a Holy Innocents’ parent, past Chair of the school’s Board of Trustees, and President and Chief Executive Officer of Post Properties, Inc.

Once complete, the school’s new 59,000-square-foot, three-story structure will become a campus flagship building. The top two floors will be outfitted with state-of-the-art classrooms and laboratories for math, science, and technology programs, a new robotics laboratory, and a media literacy suite for broadcast/journalism. 

The lower floor will house a communal dining hall that will seat 500, and a central kitchen to serve Lower, Middle, and Upper School students. Traffic flow in and out of campus will be improved, and Riley Building renovations will include adding a new entrance, repurposing classrooms, and updating the Malcolm Library.

As part of the overall plan, Holy Innocents’ has already renovated Alumni Hall, which now provides much-needed administrative offices and additional space for parking, meetings, and school events.

The One School Campaign is already off to a strong start, said Stockert. In fact, early supporters have contributed more than $15-million. Now, with the campaign officially under way—and commitments from 100 percent of the Board of Trustees, Alumni Board, faculty, and staff—Holy Innocents’ leadership is hopeful that the school will be able to secure the remaining 7.5-million during the 2013-2014 school year, break ground in June 2014, and open new facilities for the 2015-2016 school year