Page 9 - Menlo Magazine Summer 2019

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Laying the Foundation
Those who remember the campus back in the early 1990s may recall that, though not without charm and character, the buildings and classrooms were aging—they were cramped and hot in the summer and fall and leaky and cold during
the winter. The classrooms were barely adequate to meet the needs of the quality curriculum or the exemplary faculty, who were doing their best to continue to create learning magic in spite of limited facilities and funding. The Middle School was a singular cinderblock building, the iconic Douglass Mansion (now known as Stent Family Hall) had been badly damaged in the 1989 earthquake and was set for demolition, and the School shared several facilities with Menlo College including the gym, the cafeteria, and Florence Moore Auditorium.
Upon his arrival, it was immediately clear to Norm Colb, Menlo’s Head of School from 1993 to 2013, that for Menlo to have a sustainable future and achieve its vision of providing academic excellence and a wide breadth of opportunities
in arts and athletics and fostering community and strong relationships with an exemplary faculty, the School needed to make completing its campus a priority. “Buildings do more than help attract and retain great teachers; the buildings say to students and teachers that they are important and the
work they do is valued,” wrote Norm Colb in a letter to the Menlo community.
From 1996 to 2012, through three capital campaigns, Menlo raised over $130 million, which helped lay the foundation
for the School we know today. Those campaigns enabled
the School to build the Middle School and Upper School campuses, restore the mansion, and construct a new Athletic Center as well as a new Creative Arts and Design Center. Throughout each of the campaigns, Menlo also made strides in increasing its endowment to help secure a sustainable future for the School.
Through this journey, in addition to the incredible transformation of the campus, something else remarkable happened along the way. While the buildings exceeded the School’s expectations in terms of quality and performance, they also brought us even closer as a community. They created spaces where we come together, foster curiosity, deepen student-teacher relationships, forge friendships, collaborate, and imagine endless possibilities. These wonderful spaces helped us elevate the values that we cherish. To continue to attract the best teachers and students, we must continue to focus on supporting what makes Menlo special.
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