Legacy of Excellence

With the addition of a five-classroom Lower School building that will adjoin Moorer and McGowin Halls, we are addressing the need for more educational space for our students where learning, curiosity, creativity, and collaboration can be fostered in modern learning spaces. This much needed space, including The J.L. Bedsole Foundation Classrooms, will allow us to maximize the impact we have on our K3 – 4th grade students through our expanded enrichment program that now includes two teachers each for art, music, and foreign language; one teacher each for writing lab, science lab, and technology; two directors of curriculum and instruction; and multiple academic support teachers. Our goal is to provide proper educational spaces for the increased programming that has occurred in the Lower School in recent years, not grow our enrollment. A new recreational court will be an extension of the classroom, encouraging activity, teamwork, and confidence. This will support the development of the whole child. The Monte L. Moorer Foundation Breezeway and additional roadway improvements will allow for expanded carpool flow and efficiency.

The following architectural plans will allow for greater walkability and access for students, faculty, and other members of the UMS-Wright family. We will transform the Upper School entrance, Wright Hall roof, and walkways along our Mobile Street facade that connect the Roberts Middle School Buildings and the Roberts Library to the Upper School entrance, gymnasiums, and the Fine and Performing Arts Center. Fully integrating the Mobile Street
facade will allow for better carpool flow for our families that access the east side of campus each day, especially during inclement weather. To honor a historically significant area of our campus, the upgrades within the traffic circle, The Taylor Oaks Courtyard, will provide an attractive and functional space that can be enjoyed and utilized by the entire UMS-Wright Community.

Many of the indoor athletic facilities in use today are original to the school dating back to the 1950s when we were educating only young men. With our now robust athletic programs for both girls and boys, there is a need to renovate the current facilities on both the east and west ends of Wilson Gym to allow for a cleaner atmosphere and better usage overall for all of our athletes from Middle School to Varsity Athletics. Improved logistics and accessibility in these areas will meet our athletes physical as well as inspirational needs giving them the space to hone their skills and study their strategy without distraction. The extensive renovations will create four Varsity/ JV Locker Rooms – including the DeLaney/Dodson Girls’ Locker Room, two Middle School Locker Rooms, two Visitor Locker Rooms and seven Coaches’ Offices. Also within this space, a new Coaches’ Suite, Athletic Laundry and Equipment Room will be dedicated to Don Kelly. The end result is not only producing an athlete who can confidently compete at their highest level, but also a young adult who can go into the world with a clear understanding of collaboration, determination, and perseverance.

Much like the locker rooms that are adjacent to Wilson Gym, the space utilized by our Varsity Football team had weathered through the years and was no longer adequate for the growth this program has seen. The Angus R. Cooper, II Varsity Football Locker Room will provide over eighty student athletes with a space that functions more efficiently and provides a clean and organized area to enhance player development in mind, body, spirit, and character.

An investment in the UMS-Wright Foundation, specifically the General Endowment, will allow for growth in programs, opportunities, and technology provided to our faculty and students ranging from ongoing and unique professional development for our faculty to educational, wellness-centered, and academic support programs for our students not funded by tuition dollars. By supporting our faculty members’ desire to explore and grow, we are not only benefiting our students in the classroom, but we are also providing them an authentic model of life-long learning that they can carry with them throughout their years beyond the gates of UMS-Wright.