A New Center for Creativity and Innovation is Coming to BFIS

In 2022, The Future is Now Campaign launched, envisioning a signature building where the Creative Arts, Science, Design, Engineering, and Sports will unite at BFIS. It is the realization of a dream of nurturing the talent of future generations.

The impressive new bright, collaborative spaces, designed to catalyze students' creativity, risk-taking, and entrepreneurial skills, will nurture their problem-solving skills, confidence, collaboration and overall well-being.

We are especially excited by the potential that philanthropy can play in ensuring that this new addition to our campus is not simply a great facility but one that is complete with the most ambitious and innovative improvements: a new Gymnasium that our Dragons will call home with seating for spectators; a robotics and maker studio with enhanced 3D printers; new library spaces for silent study and collaboration, new arts and dramatic rehearsal spaces; terraces and outdoor learning space as well as an additional 11 state-of-the-art classrooms.

Over time, we hope that the entire BFIS community will participate in a campaign that accelerates the achievement of our ambitious goals for current and future generations of BFIS students.

Preparing our students to thrive

Our world, increasingly more technology dependent, global, complex and inter-dependent, is calling out for imaginative, interdisciplinary thinkers. No time in history has seen change happening at such exponential speed, and the impact on how and what we teach at Benjamin Franklin International School is being felt: what we as adults experienced in school must be different to what our children are experiencing today.

Consider for a minute a child who enters BFIS in our Nursery program in 2024. They will graduate from our school in 2038. They will reach the peak of their career in 2060. We have a limited idea of what the world will look like in five years much less in 2060—yet the mission of BFIS is to prepare our students to thrive and lead in that world. How can we ensure our teaching will remain relevant for the future lives of our students?

"65% of today's school kids may end
up doing work that hasn't even been invented yet"

Cathy A. Davindson
Co-director of the Annual MacArthur Foundation
Digital Media and Learning Competitions

Athletics Spaces, Purposeful Recreation, and Play Expansion

Our students will enjoy a new full-size gymnasium and overground courts committed to physical education and athletics.

This will move our current offsite provision for curricular and co-curricular athletics and physical education opportunities to the heart of the BFIS campus. Our goal is to advance our students' teamwork, leadership skills, and ability to form stronger bonds with their peers. Improved resilience learned through sports results in a self-actualized student ready to take on all aspects of their life at home, at school and in the world that awaits them.

Creative Art Spaces for Theater, Music, and Visual Arts

A Performing Arts suite with new music, theater and visual art classrooms will foster creativity, collaboration and confidence so that our students can build strong imaginations, learn by doing and develop the ability to think outside the box and boost their compassion and empathy for all human experiences. There will also be sizeable scope to learn the art of stagecraft and current arts technologies.

Science, Innovation, Design, Robotics, and Engineering Labs

New lab spaces will catalyze learning for problem-solving in purpose-built spaces fully equipped for hands-on learning, for designing, prototyping and testing and where students can be the makers, innovators, collaborative engineers and creative entrepreneurs we know that they are.

Outdoor Spaces and Play

Outdoor spaces will be designed to enhance play and exploration as learning for Middle and High School kids. It will green our campus with natural elements, and offer spaces for students to sit and relax. A stepped outdoor theater and a covered area will complement classroom space and incorporate an outdoor sports court.

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