While Brooks’ current academic spaces have served the school well during its first century of education, careful analysis and planning has gone into a multi-prong, academic master plan to renovate and rebuild our academic buildings and better provide upon our mission of meaningful education during the next 100 years.

Phase I will commence in 2026 by transforming the main and second floors of the Henry Luce III Library into an expansive learning area consisting of classrooms, breakout rooms and welcoming common areas, as well as an Academic Commons staffed by supportive faculty offering support, enrichment and engagement of all our students.

Director of the Learning Center Karina Moltz P’28 hopes the planned renovations to the Henry Luce III Library will capture the warm, inviting atmosphere of one specific room in any home: the kitchen.

“I keep having this thought that some kids like to work with an adult presence around, like they're doing homework at the kitchen table while a parent makes dinner. Even if the adult isn't directly interacting or giving help, they are there for support as needed and can be a reassuring presence,” Moltz said. “I see the new space as being closer to that model than our current library is.”

The bulk of Brooks’ current academic space dates back to the 1950s and 1960s. It has served the community well for decades, but as teaching and learning has evolved it is clear that modern, dynamic classrooms and academic hubs are needed for our humanities teachers and academic support teams to best support today’s students. Thus, an internal team of educators, trustees and architects have created a multi-phased approach to enhance existing spaces and create new ones that support how our students learn today and will continue to in the future.

With completion set for fall 2026, the $6 to 7 million Henry Luce III Library renovation will repurpose 15,700 sq. ft. into a vibrant academic hub that blends quiet and collaborative areas. The redesigned main and second floors feature five new classrooms, an academic commons with faculty offices and learning centers, enhanced study and technology support areas, as well as a staffed library circulation desk. The basement will house a culled collection of books and preserved archive space that better utilizes the current footprint.

Renovations to the Luce Library are the first in several project phases approved by the board of trustees to renovate current academic spaces similarly to our dynamic Science Center, built in 2008, and Center for the Arts, built in 2018.

Roughly two-thirds of the entire proposed project utilizes existing buildings, while new construction is limited to just one-third of the academic project. In addition to classrooms with rearrangeable furniture and technology to suit teaching needs, project plans include hub spaces designed to foster collaborative learning and provide accessible areas for students and faculty to connect, whether for academic guidance or informal meetings.

In 1937, a decade after Brooks opened its doors to 15 young boys, a temporary wooden structure, now known as the Link, was erected for classroom learning. The wooden structure was replaced in the 1950s when the Johnson Building, where the Dean’s Den currently resides, was built (and a third floor was later added in the 1990s). The connected Kingsbury Building, which was built in the 1960s as a library and later operated as a technology center and language lab, has also served the community well for decades. The adjacent Henry Luce III Library was built in 1995 and will be the first phase of renovations associated with the academic master plan.

“Credit goes to our faculty, who have found ways to infuse creativity and inspiration into these current spaces through the years, but they would all agree that out of all areas of the school, this is one that could use immediate attention,” said Associate Head of School Nina Freeman, who is facilitating the internal academic master plan committee. “The new designs provide more flexibility in classroom sizes, natural light, and adaptability. With new desks, whiteboards, and technology, we're setting up our students for decades. This is the one area of the school that impacts the most people in our community, and it makes sense that we turn our attention to our academic and learning spaces to continue to inspire generations of Brooks learners.”

PHASE ONE: LIBRARY RENOVATION

The first phase of the academic master plan is to add new functionality to the Luce Library, which was beautifully built in 1995. With completion set for fall 2026, the redesigned main and second floors will feature five classrooms, an Academic Commons with faculty offices, writing and quantitative centers, enhanced study and educational technology support areas, as well as five classrooms of various sizes and moveable furniture that will be available to teachers based on class size and discipline.

"We are transforming a building that was designed to house and protect books from light, and in doing so I believe our community is going to have a new and positive perspective when engaging with the Luce. The new learning spaces are not just inward facing, they will engage some of the most sublime parts of the campus, with two new classrooms in the bay window facing directly up the Main Street hill and the Academic Commons to the south, facing the pastoral views of Observatory Hill," said Hale Everets' 93, a trustee since 2008 who is serving as the board of trustee's primary liaison for the project.

Head of School John Packard H’87, P’18, P’21 is quick to note that Brooks is not doing away with the library. A library staff member and circulation desk will remain on the first floor, visible upon entry. The lower level will house the majority of our library collection, quiet study space and preserved archives that better utilizes the current footprint.

Faculty and students access information and research documents differently than when the library opened 26 years ago. Taking a cue from the successful building of the Science Center in 2008 and the Center for the Arts in 2018, the aim of the renovation is to dramatically increase foot traffic with students seeking support and enrichment.

Associate Head of School Nina Freeman, who is facilitating the internal academic master plan committee, says of teaching in the current academic building, “We’ve been able to provide an exceptional education to our students for decades, but our academic spaces in the Link are outdated and too small. I have taught in spaces that were overcrowded and that was even with a small class size of 12. We don’t have central air, so the classrooms upstairs become overwhelmingly hot in the early fall and late spring months, which impacts everyone’s ability to fully engage in learning. Credit goes to our faculty, who have found ways to infuse creativity and inspiration into these spaces through the years, but they would all agree that out of all areas of the school, this is one that could use immediate attention.”

“Our feeling is that we can do a better job leveraging the beautiful and vital space Luce Library has proven to be for 30 years,” Packard said. “To build a space that allows for programmatic expansion in ways that draw all of our students to it; a space that has a magnetic pull because it buzzes with energy and is filled with students and faculty members working together. I love Karina Moltz’s notion of a family kitchen table, which is squarely in line with our school’s mission and ethos, and has been for some time. It is very exciting to think about.”

"The project allows for programmatic expansion in ways that draw all of our students to it; a space that has a magnetic pull because it buzzes with energy and is filled with students and faculty members working together." 

- John Packard

Director of the Learning Center Karina Moltz P’28 and Eloise Bertrand ’26 work in the functional but cramped Learning Center situated on the second floor of the Johnson Building. “Our new space will have a much more fluid connection to classrooms and our presence in the library — without thresholds to cross — will provide easier access to all students. I see the new Academic Commons as normalizing seeking support and also providing opportunities for enrichment. As the Writing Center has been doing, a Quantitative Center will facilitate participation in math competitions, or even just be a space for students to come work on areas of interest, in addition to getting help from faculty or peer tutors stationed there,” Moltz says.

PROGRAMMING BENEFITS IN REIMAGINED SPACE

Most of the library’s second floor will house the Academic Commons, comprised of a newly-created Quantitative Strategies Center, staffed by a dedicated mathematics skills specialist rotation of math teachers; the Writing Center, through which English faculty and student writing assistants work with other students on structure, clarity and organization of their pieces; and Learning Center, whose team of learning specialists presently provide academic coaching in areas like executive-functioning skills.

“The goal at the Learning Center is to be a resource to everybody at Brooks who needs some support and our feeling is that everybody will need support at some point,” says Moltz, whose team has standing appointments with roughly 25 percent of the student body in currently cramped quarters. “It's largely academic coaching, I would call it. It's not content-specific support, but it's more time management planning. A big goal of ours is to help students learn to break tasks down into smaller and more manageable parts.”

One of those students is Eloise Bertrand ’26, who first sought out help in managing her workload at The Learning Center in the third form when she was struggling with the transition from middle school to high school. She quickly saw value in working with a learning specialist, typically twice a week, on study plans, strategies to stay organized and reduce stress. She also appreciates teachers who spend time in the Learning Center during scheduled blocks throughout the year, helping students of all levels and grades with subjects they specialize in. Having just wrapped up her fifth form, Eloise already has three honors-level classes and two AP-level classes under her belt.

“The Learning Center isn’t just for when you're struggling, it’s a place to build strong habits and get support,” Bertrand says. “The personal attention, the tools available, and the encouragement they provide really make a difference.”

For Packard, this type of support in addition to a wide-range of enrichment opportunities is what Brooks does best — and soon will have better space in which to do so.

“Our exceptional faculty goes well beyond traditional levels of support, often outside of the classroom, to both help students navigate academic challenges and pursue the upper reaches of our curriculum more aggressively,” Packard says. “We see this step as an opportunity to enhance that work by continuing to provide platinum-standard academic support across all disciplines and ensure that skill-building and learning strategy and enrichment work also allow students to realize standards of academic excellence they strive for. To broaden and deepen the terrific work our Learning Center team currently does is the goal.”

FUTURE PROJECTS IN THE ACADEMIC MASTER PLAN INCLUDE:

1. The Kingsbury Building, which Brooks has used as a library, computer lab, language lab and houses Rooms X and Y, will be completely rebuilt on the approximate current footprint, providing a large number of classrooms.
    
2. Space in the Johnson Building, which currently houses the Learning Center, Writing Center and Deans’ Den, will become classroom space. It will still connect to both the Science Center and Kingsbury Building.
    
3. The basement of Gardner House, which is presently used for history classes, will once again be part of the dormitory space.
    
4. The Link, which currently encompasses three floors of classrooms for mathematics, humanities and foreign languages, will be taken down, creating new green space and vistas of the lake.
    
5. With the removal of the portico, the spaces beneath Merriman dormitory will be turned into a large classroom and multipurpose space for students and faculty that faces the new academic quad.

“One of the features of the master plan that I am most excited about is opening up the view to the lake where the Link is currently located. The new quad will anchor the academic buildings on campus, unifying the academic experience while better leveraging the campus’s natural beauty. It’s going to be transformative, not just for the school pedagogy but for the community experience as well,” said Hale Everets ’93, trustee.

This article was originally published in the summer 2025 Brooks Bulletin alumni magazine. Read the full issue, and peruse past editions, via The Bulletin page.