Days before the start of the 2019–2020 school year, St. Mark’s celebrated the culmination of the Science Center Project and more than five years of planning and construction.
On August 21, 2019, members of the community, including donors, Trustees, parents, alumni, faculty, and staff gathered for a ceremony to rededicate the completely renovated McDermott-Green Science Building.
In the 1960s, the McDermott and Green families stepped up to lead the construction of the state-of-the-art Science & Mathematics Quadrangle, which helped elevate St. Mark’s to the national stage. Just as the McDermotts and Greens contributed to a transformative facility in the 1960s, the Science Center Project leaders, including the Winns and other families, are ensuring a strong future for St. Mark’s.
After years of planning and execution, and thanks to our generous donors and supportive community, St. Mark's opened the Winn Science Center on January 9, 2019. The moment marked the culmination of the first phase of a multi-year building project and the next step in St. Mark’s commitment to providing outstanding facilities that inspire innovative research, instruction, and learning.
In just a few months, Marksmen will begin learning in the Winn Science Center. Boys will study the universe in the planetarium, hear from industry-leading speakers in the science lecture hall, and team up together on numerous projects. From the maker space to the Lower School science classroom, this new facility is designed to foster collaboration. In the sciences, and all across campus, Marksmen learn the value of collaboration. Every member of a team, whether it be on the playing field or in the laboratory, is expected to do their part to move the group forward. The team that led the Science Center Project is no different.
After years of meticulous planning, the Winn Science Center is now at a remarkable stage: one can physically walk through areas of the building that have long existed only in drawings and renderings, like the common areas, labs, classrooms, lecture hall, Maker Space, and planetarium. The project’s generous supporters have been among the first to receive tours of the construction site, along with Trustees, faculty, parents, students, and alumni. In fact, during Alumni Weekend 2018, hundreds of alumni and their families donned hard hats for guided tours.
During Alumni Weekend 2018, hundreds of alumni returned to campus to reconnect with their former classmates and teachers. They also had a chance to tour the Winn Science Center construction site and learn about the future of science education at St. Mark's.
A half century ago, the McDermotts and Greens laid the foundation for a major transformation in science education and today, a new cadre of community members are playing a foundational role in the continuing success of the School.
It’s an exciting time to be on the campus, which has experienced a number of changes since the May 2017 groundbreaking ceremony for the Winn Science Center and McDermott-Green Science Building renovation.
As a boy, Alan Stern ’75 stared in wonder at the observatory dome as his family drove down Preston Road. Decades later, he would stare in wonder again as the Principal Investigator of mankind's first mission to explore Pluto.
The same passion that inspired Alan Stern ’75 during the Space Race is now capturing the imaginations of young Marksmen who dream of changing the world through STEM careers. For Joshua Choe ’16, that dream is quickly becoming a reality.
When the concrete has set and the walls are built, the Winn Science Center will be a tool for educating future generations of Marksmen. The teachers who will utilize this tool share their thoughts about what the building means, not just for science education, but for the entire Marksman experience.