Building
Life Science Wing
Life Science Learning Centers
Chemistry Wing
Chemistry Learning Centers (1 SPONSORED)
Chemistry and Life Science Laboratory Prep Rooms (SPONSORED)
Study (SPONSORED)
Physics Lab (SPONSORED)
Saltwater Aquariums
Math Classroom (SPONSORED)
Green Roof Demonstration Area
Courtyard (SPONSORED)
Math/Science Research Room
Math and Science Faculty Offices (Science Office SPONSORED)
Data Center
Garden Laboratory
Outdoor Classroom (SPONSORED)
Freshwater Aquariums (SPONSORED)
Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden
Citrus Garden
Experimental Garden Beds (SPONSORED)
Virtual (Nana) Wall (SPONSORED)
Photovoltaic Array
The gold-level LEED-certified building will encompass approximately 14,000 square feet on two levels, with the lower level situated below grade for energy efficiency and design purposes. In addition to housing science and math classes, opportunities to observe and evaluate the building’s "green" technology will be a central feature of the building, which is the first on campus to be designed to serve as an actual teaching tool for environmental education. The facility will have an interactive energy management system complete with light and motion sensors and eco-dimming lights. State-of-the-art technology will also be installed to maximize space and allow for the addition of new curriculum opportunities annually.
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Life Science Wing (Lower Level) – $500,000
Life Science Learning Centers – $250,000 each (two available)
This wing, located on the lower floor, will nearly double the size of current lecture and laboratory spaces to give Westridge’s students the opportunity to do science, not just study it. The wing will house two Life Science Learning Centers that are designed to allow the school’s outstanding faculty to move students easily between classroom and lab work, building a learning environment that provokes imagination and inventiveness and that invites girls to see themselves as scientists:
• Each life science learning center will be 1,500 square feet and will accommodate approximately 20 students.
• Each center will offer both lecture and lab spaces.
• The laboratory will include ample counter space, increasing opportunities for experimentation and permitting students to conduct long-term projects in an undisturbed environment.
• Each lab station will be equipped with gas, water, and air outlets, which allow a broad array of experiments.
• Workstations in the lecture space will include built-in laptops allowing for a one-to-one ratio of student to computer.
• Additional technology will include wall-mounted SMART Boards and camera and projection systems that will give students a birdseye view of teachers' demonstrations.
• Environmental chambers will be used for controlled experimentation on changing environmental conditions, and air quality equipment will be onsite for analysis in real time on a continuous data spectrum.
• A lab prep room will be located between the two classrooms. Equipped with a fume hood, the prep room will facilitate constant airflow, ensuring a safe environment when working with potentially hazardous materials.
• Courses to be held in this wing include but are not limited to: Biology, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Physiology, and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
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Chemistry Wing (Upper Level, including prep room) – $500,000
Chemistry Learning Centers – $250,000 each (one available, one SPONSORED)
This ground-level wing is composed of two learning centers, each with combined lecture and laboratory spaces to give Westridge’s students the opportunity to do science, not just study it. Enlarged spaces will allow the school’s outstanding faculty to move students easily between classroom and lab work, building a learning environment that provokes imagination and inventiveness and invites girls to see themselves as scientists:
• Each chemistry learning center will be 1,500 square feet and will accommodate approximately 20 students.
• The ceilings will be 10 feet high for optimal light and ventilation.
• Each center will offer both lecture and lab space.
• The ample laboratory space will permit students to conduct long-term experiments. Each lab station will be equipped with water, gas, and vacuum outlets to allow a broad array of experiments.
• Laptop computers will be outfitted into desks of the lecture spaces to allow students to report project-driven data in a timely fashion.
• Each desk will also be equipped with a tablet computer giving students the capability of posting their work in real time. Teachers will monitor and highlight student work on overhead screens, encouraging collaboration and class participation.
• A camera will be fixed within the ceiling over the teacher station, projecting images on a large screen for students to follow demonstrations from their own workstations.
• Additional state-of-the-art equipment for chemistry lab work will be stationed in every room, including spectrometers for kinetics and identifications of unknowns; and probe-ware for advanced student hands on laboratory learning.
• A lab prep room will be located between the two classrooms, equipped with four fume hoods allowing the constant flow of fresh air and ensuring a safe environment when working with potentially hazardous materials.
• Courses held in this wing will include: Chemistry, Honors and Advanced Placement Chemistry, and Earth and Planetary Science.
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Chemistry and Life Sciences Laboratory Prep Rooms – SPONSORED
Located between the two Chemistry Labs on the ground level and between the two Life Sciences Labs on the lower level, the Laboratory Prep Rooms are an innovative feature designed to increase the efficiency and volume of labs that can be conducted in the new classroom/laboratory spaces. The Prep Rooms will eliminate the need for faculty members to wait until a class is vacant to prepare lab materials.
• The Prep Rooms can be entered from either the classroom or the exterior hallway.
• A “pass through” window allows faculty to easily move materials from the prep room to the labs, reducing the potential of spills or other accidents.
Study – SPONSORED
The common area, located adjacent to faculty offices and home to several scientific displays, will provide students with ready access to science facilities outside the class period and to science and math faculty members. It is designed to serve as a student hub for study, collaborative work and contact with faculty:
• The room will be equipped with stationary tables for studying and power outlets for laptops and other technology.
• A solar and weather station display will be featured in the room, in addition to a touch-screen monitor to view energy use and a plasma screen to display announcements and current projects.
• The Study will also be home to “Monty” and “Spike", the science department’s beloved bearded dragon and python, in addition to five aquariums featuring freshwater and saltwater marine life.
• The name of the space will become part of the school’s vernacular, i.e. “Meet me at XYZ after class.”
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This nearly 1,200 square-foot ground-level facility will combine lecture and laboratory space to allow Westridge’s outstanding faculty flexibility in lesson presentation.
• The ample laboratory spaces will provide opportunities for more experimentation in essence creating more lab time and less lecture time.
• Sixteen-foot lab stations will include built-in air and vacuum outlets and be equipped with state-of-the-art technology, allowing for larger scale experiments and a collaborative working environment.
• The lecture space will be equipped with laptop computers that can be stored below the desks and are easily transportable between lab and lecture space.
• An overhead flex camera will be installed over the demonstration area for students to follow experiments along with the teacher.
• Hooks will be installed in the ceiling for pendulum research allowing for maximum experimentation time.
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Physics and Advanced Placement Physics courses will be conducted in this lab, focusing on Classical Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, and Particle Physics.
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Saltwater Aquariums – $125,000 for set of three tanks
A series of three saltwater aquariums will be housed in the south wall of the Study on the lower level, encompassing 15 feet of space.
• Tanks will house live rock, plants and grasses, soft, hard and spiny corals and reefs.
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Two saltwater tanks will feature various forms of sea life, including fish, farmed coral and reefs.
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A third tank, positioned between the two saltwater aquariums, will incorporate a wave machine as part of a refugium that demonstrates the ocean’s natural filtration system.
• Air conditioning and ionization systems will be installed in every tank to support student research and monitoring.
• Classes will also study the growth of saltwater reefs, symbiotic relationships amongst varying marine life and research trophic levels within each aquarium.
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This 600 square foot, lower-level classroom will nearly double the size of teaching space for Upper School math and will support an innovative and interactive teaching environment.
• State-of-the-art technology will include laptop computers at every desk, built-in smart boards and Wi-Fi accessibility.
• Interactive software programs will be available demonstrating calculator programming, and geometric diagrams and experimentation.
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Faculty will be encouraged to teach math through a more visual, interactive approach with computer explorations made available by laptop accessibility.
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Courses offered in this room include but are not limited to: Geometry, Honors Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, and Advanced Placement Calculus.
•The name of the space will become part of the school’s vernacular, i.e. “Meet me at the XYZ classroom.”
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Green Roof Demonstration Area – $75,000
This outdoor experimentation area will be located above the science faculty offices, adjacent to the Upper School Art building.
• Students will be able to observe a green roof planted with sedum and other succulents.
• Comparative experimentation will occur between this vegetative roof and two others consisting of a photovoltaic, and non-heat absorbing system.
• Students will be able to monitor energy transfer in real time from this location.
• The roof and its surrounding area will be Wi-Fi equipped.
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As with Westridge’s other courtyard spaces, this landscaped outdoor space will be an important gathering place and transition space for students and faculty. Located on the lower level, it will connect to the Study when the Nana Wall is opened, creating a spacious and welcoming indoor-outdoor area:
• The area will be equipped with benches and ample seating and will provide a quiet, contemplative space.
• This outdoor space will be Wi-Fi equipped for study and research opportunities.
• Housed just over the courtyard will be a series of photovoltaic panels used for classroom study and energy production.
• The custom shapes of the solar panels will be visible to foot traffic from varying locations.
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Math/Science Research Room – $75,000
This lower-level classroom will provide teaching space for various math courses in addition to science related laboratory work and research.
• The nearly 400-square-foot space will be equipped with desks that can be repositioned for team projects, group discussions and lab research.
• SMART Board Technology will be installed allowing for interactive demonstrations.
• The name of the space will become part of the school’s vernacular, i.e. “Meet me at XYZ after class.”
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Math and Science Faculty Offices – $50,000 each (Math Office available, Science Office SPONSORED)
These two spacious rooms will provide Upper School science and math faculty member with the work and gathering spaces needed for class preparation and collaborative efforts.
• The science faculty office, approximately 600 square feet, will be on the lower level, located adjacent to the Study, will allow students ready access to faculty members.
• The math faculty office, approximately 400 square feet, will be on the ground level directly above the Study.
• Each office space will provide individual work stations and storage areas and will be furnished with a table and chairs for group discussions and meetings.
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Data Center – $50,000
This highly visible space, located on the ground floor of the building’s campus-side entrance, will serve as the building’s technology hub.
• The center will also serve as the distribution and support center for the entire school’s inventory of 150 laptops.
• The Data Center provides a dedicated server room for the building.
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This space for experimentation, observation, and community will be located in the east corner of the ground-level property.
• Planted with drought tolerant species, the hardscape will be permeable to allow optimum storm water management.
• This outdoor research area will be Wi-Fi equipped, allowing students to use “probeware” that measures the acidity of the soil.
• The name of the space will become part of the school’s vernacular, i.e. “Meet me at XYZ after class.”
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This distinct area will include two student work tables to accommodate 20 students for outdoor class discussion/observation. The name of the space will become part of the school’s vernacular, i.e. “Bio is meeting in the XYZ today.”
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Two Freshwater Aquariums - SPONSORED
Two three-foot freshwater aquariums will flank the saltwater aquariums housed in the south wall of the Study on the lower level:
• The two freshwater aquariums will replicate Lake Malawi in Africa and an Amazon basin.
• Tanks will house a variety of plants and grasses, fish, and other forms of freshwater life.
• Air conditioning and ionization systems will be installed in every tank to support student research and monitoring.
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Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden – $25,000
Designed to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, this planting bed will anchor the southwest, ground-level corner of the building and will be planted with native perennials and low shrubs for diffuse flowering in all seasons.
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A small grove of orange, lemon and grapefruit trees will inhabit approximately 120 square feet of the northwest edge of the property, an area that will be open to students and will serve as an outdoor classroom.
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Experimental Garden Beds – SPONSORED
These raised beds will be located on the northwest side of the property.
• They will provide a place for students to experiment with organic gardening.
• The beds will be equipped with storm water retention systems, allowing rainwater cisterns to be used for irrigation and a hand pump for students to operate.
• The area will be surrounded by picnic tables allowing for an outdoor classroom setting.
• The area will be Wi-Fi equipped so students may simultaneously conduct and record research.
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Virtual (Nana) Wall – SPONSORED
This folding glass wall will allow the Study to open fully to the Garden, creating an indoor/outdoor space and enhancing the architectural design of the building and flow between spaces.
• The virtual wall reduces energy consumption more effectively than windows and doors, in keeping with the facility’s environmental commitment.
• The surrounding area is Wi-Fi equipped, allowing students to use their laptops in both areas.
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Photovoltaic Array – $10,000 each (unlimited number of sponsors)
Two displays of solar panels, in various sizes and shapes, will be featured on the roof and south wall above the outdoor courtyard where students will gather to study and conduct class work and research.
• Nearly 100 solar panels will be installed, approximately 70 on the roof and 22 over the courtyard.
• Both photovoltaic arrays will help supply power to the building, producing around 455 watts of energy.
• Students will track the energy on the solar station display featured in the indoor study room.
• All donors will be recognized on a community wall.
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All naming opportunities are subject to change and availability.
For more information, contact the Advancement Office, 626.799.1053,
ext. 252.