The Igniting Young Minds for a Lifetime of Learning: Campaign to Fund People, Place, and Programs has a goal is $12,500,000.

As of February 2017, there is less than $1,000,000 left to raise.

There are four major categories of priority need:

            Campus Enhancements - $9,500,000

            Endowment for Faculty and Students - $1,000,000

            Program Support - $2,000,000

New construction includes an Innovation Lab with a teaching kitchen, an environmental science classroom, a robotics lab, and a woodworking classroom.   The new Barn will provide new classrooms and a new chicken coop, and an extended ring road will allow better usage of existing space for students and learning. The School began preparing for the new construction and other enhancements to its facilities during the summer of 2015 when extensive infrastructure work began on utilities and the ring road.

Both new construction and other facilities enhancements will be phased in order to minimize the disruption to Lamplighter’s unique educational programs. The current schedule for Phase One calls for the Innovation Lab to be open for full use by fall 2017, along with the new barn that will also be available by fall 2017.

The safety and security of our students is always the primary consideration at Lamplighter. There will be many opportunities for learning associated with the construction project.

We are so fortunate to have an award-winning architect design the buildings for Lamplighter.  Our architect, Marlon Blackwell, received the prestigious Cooper Hewitt Award, presented by the Smithsonian Design Museum.  He is one of our nation's top designers and his firm is located in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

No, the copper has already started to patina and by next year at this time the color will be much different. Copper is initially bright reddish-brown in color, but when exposed to the atmosphere, it acquires a protective patina that turns from brown to black to green over an eight to ten year period. Though copper does corrode, this protective patina makes copper a corrosion-resistant material.

Absolutely! The architect worked hard to keep many of the construction materials the same as we have always had at Lamplighter. The rooftops of both the Jonsson Library and the Cook Gym are made of copper.

The new building will house a maker space, digital fabrication & robotics space, a project room, a teaching kitchen, woodworking space, environmental science classroom, and two outdoor teaching porches.

We are all eager for the pig, cow, and sheep to return to campus. They will definitely make their debut in the fall. Their new home will include a beautiful shade tree and they will be located in an animal pen adjacent to the barn.

The landscape team has been busy at work and has planted 167 trees so far. We expect a few dozen additional trees planted by the time that the project is complete.

The Igniting Young Minds for a Lifetime of Learning campaign is a comprehensive fundraising effort including the continuation of the Annual Fund and Auction throughout the effort.

Your continued generous support of the Annual Fund and the Auction are essential to the success of the campaign and you will be contacted regarding these efforts in the usual manner. Hopefully, you will consider an additional capital contribution to this project.

The School, through the Campaign Steering Committee, has been actively soliciting leadership and major contributions to the campaign from the Board of Trustees and other individuals, parents – current and former, grandparents, alumni and friends, as well as foundations and other entities. This process will be continued and expanded during the remaining months of the campaign with personal contacts.