Benilde-St. Margaret’s has just released the plans for a new construction project beginning in mid-2020. BSM’s president, Dr. Adam Ehrmantraut, and Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Natalie Ramier, have been working to make this plan a reality. 

The new space will be located off of the main hallway, across from the commons. The plan is for the new project to be a collaborative learning space where students and teachers can work with each other and outside partners. “What we’re starting to see in pockets around the school is an extensive amount of teaming…when you look at the school and the different spaces that we have available to our students, that piece is not embraced,” Ehrmantraut said. 

Ideally, the project will begin in June of 2020 and finish in January of 2021. The idea behind this new project is similar to the construction project of the atrium and new science classrooms in 2018-2019. “As we really ramped up our science curriculum by adding AP Physics, AP Chemistry, advanced our biomedical program, we built a facility to match the shift in the curriculum…This next space is connected to the curriculum as well,” Ehrmantraut said. 

Some courses at BSM have undergone some transformation, and those changes beg for a new facility to hold them. “The whole intent is to spur innovative thinking through collaboration, create unique partnerships that in essence benefit the students. It is absolutely critical for us to get in line with that type of thinking around curriculum,” Ehrmantraut said.

Almost all BSM students will benefit from the space at some point. “I can see classes coming together in here, co-curricular using it in different elements, [and] any sort of student-based project, where you’re working with three or four people, utilizing the space,” Ehrmantraut said.   

This collaborative learning space will be strictly used for getting things done. “The intent here is that this is not a hangout by any stretch of the imagination. This is a place of productivity. It’s not a commons, but if you’re working in a team concept with other kids, that’s your space,” Ehrmantraut said.