CCDS marks 75 years since 1941 with plans to fix major infrastructure problems. The cafeteria built for 600 students now serves 1,100, and four wet labs are so overcrowded they run nonstop. A new Purdy Center for Science and Math and redesigned library will expand capacity and modernize learning spaces.
To be sure, one of the finest schools in our country. As we celebrate our 75th year of service to students, I reflect on the years that our school was founded, 1941. and the unbelievable leaders in our community that had a vision that much like today is surrounded by serving students. Our current facilities serve students well. I'm even more excited at what we can do with the future in our new buildings. They will again take us to a new level of leadership in the education community.
We're standing here in our cafeteria. Cafeteria was built with the start of the school and built for about 600 kids, and currently on this campus we have 1,100 kids. This really constricts our space and how we can use this. Just to give you an example, our lower school students start their lunches at 10:30 and they end at 12:30. This means the upper school can't start lunch until 12:15, which really constricts our schedule. As you can see, this is a very tight area, and when we have 500 kids at 12:15 coming over here for lunch, it really gets packed. If you've ever had a teenager, you know they like to eat. And having food available at all times of the day would be a great addition for our campus. And just a place to hang out for them to do work, to study, to talk to their friends is another thing we would love to have.
This is an example of a traditional lab. All of our science classes here will, will run labs a bit like this. But in the future, what we're hoping to do is to take our science curriculum to the next level. At present, we're in a facility where We're cramped for space. Our 4 wet labs are used every single period of every single day.
We'll have labs going on for multiple class periods at a time, and we'll have every class doing that lab at the same time. So we'll have to come in here, get our stuff out of the cubby, set it up. That'll take a large portion of the class.
We had to put on an extra mobile classroom to accommodate the new demand we have for physics in the school. At present, in the facility that we have, we're able to offer an amazing array of elective classes and advanced science classes. such as organic chemistry and calculus-based AP Physics. However, in the new Purdy Center for Science and Math, we're going to be able to offer all those things and also grow our engineering and technology programs.
This is our current library structure. It's built like a traditional old-fashioned library. The central point of it is our circulation desk. Behind that, you'll see stacks of books and resources for students to consume information. You have individual study carrels And then around the sides of the library, you'll see that there are classroom spaces that have been carved out as our upper school has grown and we outgrew our current facilities. Our vision for the new space is that we shift the focus and make it more of a 21st century space. We want it to be designed in a way that is flexible and can meet the changing needs of students as they grow. We want the spaces in here to be really collaborative spaces to take their ideas that they have conceptually and then build them and create.
I've worked at 4 different independent schools in my time, and this is by far and away the best school I've ever worked at. The reason why it's such a great place is the administration provide an atmosphere for us, and the families support us in a way that we can actually dream big and come up with ideas. And if students want to do it, we can make it happen.
You know, none of this would be possible without the 3 keys that this community has defined itself by: the time, the talent, and the treasure. That has allowed us to be who we are today. Family members, educators, and students have given of themselves to make this an incredible opportunity for students. Families have committed over time to generously give to this school and build facilities that allow our students to thrive. It happened in our first generation in the '40s. It happened in Every decade of this school, we have had families who have committed themselves to making this a better institution for tomorrow. And building a school for tomorrow is what we all continue to work to do.
