Campus Growth & Enhancements

With the 2019 completion of a yearlong project to enlarge and renovate Bogle Hall, Blair Academy now boasts a spacious, state-of-the-art science facility that fully supports analytical and inquiry-based learning in the laboratory sciences.

The Bogle Science Center’s three-story addition includes new classroom-labs for AP physics and AP biology; an AP chemistry classroom and adjacent analytical chemistry lab; and a dedicated lab for Blair’s Integrated Science Research (ISR) program. Meanwhile, all existing classrooms and labs were renovated and upgraded with leading-edge technology.

Blair’s science department has gained new capabilities in the Bogle Science Center, including dedicated research space, where ISR students engage in sustained independent projects and collaborate with outside experts. Faculty members will continue to implement elements throughout the curriculum that deeply immerse students in the science behind the theory they learn in class.

Opened in September 2017, the Chiang-Elghanayan Center for Innovation and Collaboration promotes the exchange of ideas and project-based learning, complementing and enhancing work being undertaken in existing academic buildings. Home to Blair’s fine arts and technology departments, the Chiang-Elghanayan Center is also where the community gathers for Society of Skeptics lectures, Head of School and Alumni Roundtables, and a host of after-school and weekend activities.

With its open architecture and highly configurable spaces—including two media labs, an art studio, a maker space and fully equipped technology classrooms readily accessible to all students—the Chiang-Elghanayan Center is a venue where ideas come to life.

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With construction completed in 2021, the Crew Training Center is the latest campus enhancement to be completed as part of Blair’s 2018-2025 Strategic Plan, All In. The Center features dedicated weight- and ergometer-training areas, as well as an eight-seat sweep/sculling tank, which allows rowers the opportunity to practice year-round in optimal conditions. This new facility, along with the J. Li Golf Training Center and winter sports complex, reflects Blair’s continuing commitment to provide student-athletes with the resources, equipment and support necessary to excel at the highest levels.

The J. Li Golf Training Center houses two hitting bays with simulators, a putting/chipping area, lockers and a restroom. Players are able to hone their skills, maintain their swings year-round, and warm up before a match or work one-on-one with a golf pro.

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In January 2012, Blair turned on its first solar array on the roof of Hardwick Hall in an effort to provide more sustainable energy to power its campus. Since then, we have added a second array across Route 94, in operation since August 2020. Combined, these collective panels provide an average of 25% to 30% of the School’s energy, peaking at close to 50% over the summer months. Each array helps Blair move toward a more sustainable future and reduces our carbon footprint. Since its installation, the second array alone has meant Blair reduced CO2 emissions by 2,226,035 pounds and operated on a partially renewable power supply that has reduced coal consumption by 1,077,809 pounds. The energy saved at Blair by that single array in its lifetime is the equivalent of powering 106 homes for a year.

Relocation of fine arts classes to the Chiang-Elghanayan Center for Innovation and Collaboration has allowed for the repurposing of Weber Hall solely for the teaching of mathematics. Math was previously taught in four buildings on campus, and centralizing math students and faculty in a single location has facilitated greater opportunities for collaboration and fostered the exchange of ideas. Construction was completed in September 2017 and Weber now features six optimally designed mathematics classrooms, a first-floor departmental office, and first- and second-floor study areas.

In 2018, Blair opened its winter sports complex, enclosing a portion of the tennis center under a “bubble” during the coldest months of the year. The complex features two tennis courts and a temporary turf field, and it provides climate-controlled practice space for a host of teams, as well as a spacious venue for student life activities that bring the whole community together.