As many FA students may already know, plans for an innovation center to be added to the left side of the Kumar Wang Library have begun. The addition features a sleek modern design that will help bring new life to the FA campus. Although the project likely won’t wrap up while most of us are still attending the Upper School, the addition will benefit future FA students for many years to come. 

A Newsday article written by James T. Madore reports on the project informing that the cost will total to around $22.5 million, being funded by Tax-exempt bonds issued by Nassau County. The project will feature new classrooms for science, engineering, and business instruction. The addition will likely open in the fall of 2024, connecting to the library which will also be going under renovations. 

On January 12th of this year, Bruce Blakeman visited Friends Academy to approve new county issued bonds which will pave the way for the addition of the innovation center. Written in an instagram post made by Friends Academy the same day, Blakeman states, “The students who come here will benefit from this going forward…We have a lot of people who graduated from Friends Academy, whether in technology, law, medicine, education, or business- you name it – the people who graduated from this fine institution have contributed to America and this community.” According to the Newsday article, Blakeman states the county “is happy to do our part in helping the school continue in its mission to give students the educational excellence they so deserve.” He also discussed the project with corporation officials on multiple occasions, corporation CEO Sheldon L. Shrenkel said, adding that educational institutions such as Friends are vital because “our businesses need top-tier talent and a workforce with the skills needed for continued growth and innovation.”

As we get closer to the fall of 2024, we are able to look forward to what is to come for Friends Academy and how this new addition to the Library building will help reshape educational opportunities within our community. The addition will introduce new learning environments and methods that would not be possible without such a cutting-edge facility.