GriffINNOVATION Campaign
The Innovation Center demonstrates the best part of Roycemore: the dedication to giving each and every student the opportunity to express who they are, not just in the classroom but in every aspect of their education. My hope is not that it will transform students, but that it will give students the tool necessary to transform themselves.
— Berhanu Snyder '21
GriffINNOVATION Progress Update
January 2023: Our Vision Design Team has made design selections under the leadership of Cordogan Clark; once funded, our Innovation Center will have six designated spaces with varying levels of function and flexibility. Our Architects have named these Cove, Cave, Watering Hole, Campfire, Makerspace, and Lounge. Roycemore is not currently attached to these names, but they help explain the vision.
A Look At What Has Happened So Far
Groundbreaking Ceremony and Celebration
An Innovation Center: Hanu Snyder ’21 and Aidan Scheidt ’25 Made a Plan
Thank You to Our Donors
Randy D. Podolsky Family Foundation
The Rogue Willow Foundation
Pradeep Chintagunta and Marisa de la Torre
Elizabeth Ellrodt and Scott Schweighauser
Linda Reed ‘65
Jerry and Micki Springer
Aisling Colón and Jonathan Holloway
Adrianne Finley Odell and Rich Odell
Kevin and Diane Foote
The Fromm Family
Fred and Pam Sasser
The Scheidt Family
Anita Shah and Jeffrey Tong
Dorian Bezanis
Laura and Michael Boutross
Sossina Haile and Jeff Snyder
Jennifer Morgenstern
The Adams Family
The Drake Family
Lynn and Tom Ellis
Vicky Kalogera and Fred Rasio
Ted and Katie Karn
Bessie Mbadugha
and Jason Keiper
Deborah Pergament ‘87
Mairéad Reidy and Canice Prendergast
Elizabeth Shepherd and Scott Kinsloe ’72
Juliet and Peter Birnbaum
Dr. Anthony and Derilyn Chambers
Holly and Jim Crilly
Christopher and Liz Deutsch
Aleksandra Egelja-Maruszewski and Joe Maruszewski
Sanford M. Goldberg ’72
Margaret and Robert McCamant
Evan Michael McCombs Memorial Foundation
Candace and Dennis Risen
Nicole Woodard Iliev
Eleftherios Gdoutos ‘05
Barbara ‘52 and John Larson
Brianna Sylver-Galvao and Adriano Galvao
Katrina Veerhusen and Rick McCombs
Devin and Ruth Bell
Abby Ghibaudy
and Adam Schenck
Tim and Lori Hurley
Katherine and Ken Greisman
Leigh Jurecka and Matthew Jacobson
Mairaj Jaleel and Muqeeth Raheem
The McGuire Schnitger Family
Susan ‘60 and Edward Osterberg
Julianne Raymond ‘95
Helen Swanston ‘72
Sammy and Amy Averbuch
Pushpa Gopalan and Dirk Reinhardt
Becky and Charlie Jackson
Peggy Klein
Eva and Lenz Neuhauser
Constance and James Roberts
Olga Vydra and Sam Iosevich ‘91
Staci and Jospeh Zake
Anonymous (4)
Darcy and Kyle Aksamitowski
Staci Aronson
Ololade Bakare
Courtney Barlow
Anna Sue Bouzas
Janine Bragdon
Ana Camino
Katherine Carson and Colin Hart
Marie Cinquemani Thomas
Sarah Coffman and Josh Goldberg
Jonathan Cohen ‘02
Tim and Ana Costello
Gillian and Eric Deinoff
Michelle and Christopher DeMent
Karen Dinelli
Nancy and Dan Dudek
Ellin and Kip Duggan
Layi and Bunmi Durojaiye
Patricia and Bill Eder
Kayla Fortino
Charlotte Freccia
Theodora and Carsten Franck
Egemen and Agnieszka Genc
Judy and David Godinho
Hilda Gonzalez
Morgan Graff
Wendy Griffin
Jane and Evan Gruber
Bari Guibord and Lenka Reznicek
Shannon Henry
Chris and Mary Hill
Bill and Susan Horine
Jane Kim
Jordan and Melissa Koss
Kristina Kriis and Michael Barshai
Brynn and Charles Leavitt
Cheryl and Rob Linkhart
Merlin Liu and Pelle Deinoff
Gina Lorenz
Mark Lowry
Jennifer Marsidi and Christo Sedgewick
Geoffrey Mark ‘85
Beth Negronida and Charles Saxe
Jessica Nguyen and James Rondinelli
Richard R. Norton
April Ohlinger
Ralph and Sara Patrello
Robbyn Pauley and James McKee
Angela Peters Murphy
Victoria Peters
Vicky and John Pickett
Cynthia and René Rivera
Stefanie and Dale Rivera
Jolee and Amiel Rosenkranz
Shalini Shankar and Kurt Mueller
Jill Silverman and Kyle Edwards
Tara and Chris Skinner
Caroline Sloat ‘61
Marielle St. Amand
Howard and Karen Stanley
Ron and Kimmie Tain
Bellamy Taylor-Pines
Karen Tomsa
Naeema and Christopher Torres
Rachel and Adrian Walters
Katie Wilcher ‘15
Bridget Wild and Benjamin Kornfeld
Lizanne Wilson and Todd Hensley
Marge Woodfill
Jessi Wunder
Shauna Young
Now is the Time to Invest in Roycemore
Meet the Teams Behind the Future Innovation Center
Our Vision and Design team is working together with information collected from Parent, Student, and Faculty surveys to build the framework for the new Innovation Center. They are visiting spaces like the Innovation Development Lab at DePaul to gain ideas on design, and use of innovation and maker spaces for students.
Erik Anderson, 2nd and 4th grade parent
Devin Bell, 1st grade parent
Ruth Bell, 1st grade parent
Eric Calvert, Center for Talent Development
Chris English, Head of School Elect
Adrianne Finley Odell, Head of School
Charlie Jackson, RFA, 3rd and 4th-grade parent
Jason Keiper, 4th and 9th grade parent
Mark Lowry, Trustee
Jennifer Morgenstern, 11th grade parent
Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, Center for Talent Development
Barry Praeuner, 6th grade parent
Keith Raheem, 1st and 5th grade parent
Aidan Scheidt, 9th grade student
Beth Shutters, Faculty, 4th grade parent
Ron Tain, Faculty
Alec Wilson, 11th grade student
In April 2022, the Board of Trustees approved our engagement with Cordogan Clark, a local architectural design (and build) firm for architectural design services for our future Innovation Center. The selection of Cordogan Clark was the culmination of a robust process that involved the Vision-Design Team and the Facilities Committee of the Board reviewing proposals from 9 firms, and selecting 4 to present to the Roycemore Administration. Cordogan Clark stood out among the other firms for a variety of reasons but one of the things we really liked about them was their experience with similar projects and their knowledge and thinking about the future of education. The timing related to how soon the Innovation Center can be completed now rests on our success in raising funds, however, having them on board will help us better show a vision for what the space could look like when it is done. There will be opportunities in the months ahead to have additional input beyond the prior surveys and focus groups.
Weese Langley Weese (WLW) is a full-service architectural firm with a broad local client base. WLW is a small, highly effective open architectural studio in the River North area involved in higher education and affordable housing on a wide range of projects including numerous historic structures and new affordable housing construction. WLW Architects and Engineers are working on the permitting, subcontracting, and deliverables for our new staircase.
At Roycemore School’s May 16th Board meeting, the Board approved engaging with W.B. Olson, a local contractor who will build the stairwell to the Innovation Center for us during the summer and fall of 2022.