Bolles School issued the following announcement on Aug. 12.
The Bolles School launched the 2021-22 school year August 12 with some exciting history-making firsts. In addition to opening with a fully solar energy dependent Bolles Hall, historic hallmarks of the new year include 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.
“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. “Our collective culture and courage is defined by our respect for one another and the incredible momentum pushing us forward – we are strengthened by the differences and successes fueling this very special school year.”
Students in the Bolles Resident Life program are from Austria, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Vietnam, in addition to the United States. 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 many backgrounds and a total of 52 countries including the United Kingdom, Tanzania, Puerto Rico, Vietnam, Brazil, Nicaragua, Italy, Lebanon, Spain, Germany, Peru, Mexico, Israel, Canada, Japan, Jamaica, Romania, South Africa, Norway, Bahamas, Singapore, Mongolia, Japan, Nigeria, Australia, Austria, Cayman Islands, China, India, Egypt, Armenia, Pakistan, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Russia, New Zealand, Belarus, Czech Republic, Denmark, United Arab Emirates, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, France, Ukraine, Kenya, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Argentina, Sri Lanka, Turkey and South Korea.
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 millions of dollars to $25 million and already, more than $35 million of the planned $50 million capital campaign has been fulfilled. This has helped stimulate important enhancement and maintenance work on all four campuses, including the expansion of Verlander Hall and a renovation to Cain Gymnasium on the Bolles Upper School San Jose Campus and changes to the Ponte Vedra Library on the Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus, among many others.
History is in the making across the Upper School San Jose Campus’ Bolles Hall, where an elevator is being installed for the first time since the School opened in 1933. In another first, girls boarders are moving to new rooms in Bolles Hall later this fall. Construction is nearly complete on renovations to Bolles Hall’s second floor – a key project that expands the School’s residential life capacity and enables girl boarders to move from their longtime dorms on the Bolles Middle School Bartram Campus to Bolles Hall with their male peers.. This work follows a historic gift from American businessman, philanthropist and professional sports team owner Gordon Gund, whose wife, Lulie, attended Bartram School.
Called the Llura “Lulie” Ligget Gund ’58 Residence Hall for Girls, the project encompasses the entire second floor of Bolles Hall and will double Bolles’ female boarding capacity from 30 to 60 students—positioning the program to meet increasing admission demand. The work includes notable environmental enhancements to the entire building, originally developed in the mid-1920s as a posh hotel before its founding as a school in 1933. Bolles Hall will be 100 percent solar energy dependent thanks to a new commitment to JEA’s SolarSmart program.
"The beauty of investing in community solar is that Bolles' investment helps everyone in Jacksonville," said JEA Media Relations Coordinator Simone Garvey-Ewan. "The community benefits not just from the increase in green generation, but also from breathing in cleaner air. Instead of making a large capital investment that must be returned over 20 years, The Bolles School can receive solar energy today while costs decline as new, more efficient plants come online in the future."
Local architecture firm Luke Architecture P.A. designed plans for the new spaces and Bent Construction is the contractor. 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 expected to house the School’s science, math, robotics and technology offerings, adds classroom space displaced by the residence hall expansion – another project that will take the Bolles experience to new heights and beyond.
School Chief Financial Officer Jeff Role shared additional plans to Bolles Hall, including the expansion and reconfiguration of campus dining area, Verlander Hall.
“The serving area renovation will include moving the Whitehurst serving line into the sun room which will create a dedicated dining area for the Whitehurst students. This will allow expansion of the current upper school serving area into the former Whitehurst serving line making room for an additional serving station delivering new menu items and additional room for the salad bar and soup station,” Role said. “The plan also includes raising the ceilings in the primary serving area to better mirror the height of the dining room giving a more open feel.”
A new outdoor dining area also will be created along the outer perimeter of the meditation garden on the east side of the Bolles Hall dining wing.
Another exciting first for the School is the first full school year of swimming in the Upper School San Jose Campus' new Tarver Pool. The state-of-the-art Myrtha pool was installed this spring, and Bolles swimmers look forward to competing in it this school year.
Students arrived to campus August 12 for many of the typical First Day of School festivities and events including the annual Senior Breakfast, where students from the Class of 2022 donned traditional “first day” apparel of black dresses and ties, shades and tiaras.
For a vast collection of first day of school photos in large sizes from all four campuses, please visit our event specified online photo galleries here for specific campuses:
Upper School San Jose Campus Photos
Middle School Bartram Campus Photos
Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus Photos
Lower School Whitehurst Campus Photos
Original source can be found here.
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