St. Paul Academy and Summit School - Upper School Addition and Renovation

Innovative and Dynamic Curriculum

SPA, an independent school known for innovative and dynamic curriculum designed around the Harkness method, educates 750 middle and upper school students. A visible example of SPA’s attitude towards their role in the community is the openness of the campus massing and landscape, highlighted by the addition’s playful yet humble exteriors.

The humanities wing is a 38,000-square-foot renovation of both the 1970 Benjamin Thompson building and the original 1916 schoolhouse. To support the schools’ more post-secondary approach, each classroom is clustered with an open, flexible working space and faculty offices, promoting collaboration and self-direction, and community-focused culture with each open space sized to host occasional larger group meetings without dedicating a fixed space. All 20 classrooms are designed around the Harkness table (an oval seminar table, originating at Phillips Exeter Academy in 1930), small-group work, and technology.