The opening of the new pedestrian campus last year marked the fulfillment of the 1993 Campus Master Plan, designed by architect Lo-Yi Chan, who at the time was also the campus planner for The Lawrenceville School, Phillips-Andover Academy, and Dartmouth College. Despite our nearly 500 acres of property, Blair possesses a smaller interior campus than do those esteemed institutions, but at the time of the plan and not having been built out, this School also offered many possibilities for growth and aesthetic potential. The result—not counting new faculty residences—has been the construction of three entirely new buildings and another dozen existing buildings that were renovated, some so thoroughly and whose functions have been so changed as to render them effectively new. At the same time as the campus plan was being fulfilled, Blair was experiencing significant growth, expanding the student body from a school in the low 300s in the 1980s to the mid-400 range today. We are, of course, still Blair, and we remain firmly connected to our past history and traditions, and to the loyal alumni who attended Blair in earlier periods. Still, with the successful completion of the master plan, Blair has certainly crossed the campus offerings threshold, joining the most venerable boarding schools in the country in terms both of useful facilities for contemporary students and faculty, and an aesthetic beauty which combines all elements of Blair’s 163-year history.

Lovely grounds and stately buildings support a strong school, but those qualities do not in themselves assure a rich and dynamic learning environment, one where the life of the mind and the development of academic-based skills must take priority. A capable, skilled teacher in a classroom with motivated and purposeful students should be at the heart of a school, and Blair strives daily to reflect the reality of that description. To be sure, a functional campus and well-equipped classrooms only encourage educational goals, not fulfill them. I believe a good teacher and dedicated, capable students can work their learning magic in nearly any environment that supports the enterprise of education, but when one also lives at the School—as 80% of Blair students do—the quality of the living conditions certainly enhances learning both in and outside of the classroom. Are dormitories comfortable, well supervised and structured, conducive to personal growth? Is the balance of educational and social technology maintained? Are adults present and that presence more than simply physical, but also communicative, pro-active, encouraging and sensitive? Can girls and boys learn responsibility, respect for others, self-discipline and leadership? Are the qualities of good friendship promoted? This balance between academic preparation for college and social/personal preparation for life surely defines a great boarding school, and certainly defines Blair.

Finally, however, all the ingredients I have mentioned—beautiful campus, useful classrooms, good teachers, engaged students—exist against the backdrop of a complex adolescent culture, a world filled with challenges to every society and culture, and the reality that there are individual issues of family and life circumstances that affect each girl and boy at Blair. Knowing that, faculty members work with each student as he or she seeks to realize the educational and personal goals that brought these boys and girls to Blair. That commitment to our overarching mission defines this community.

T. Chandler Hardwick
Headmaster

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