The recently opened Brower Student Center came as a major project of a larger, multiyear effort at The Blessed Sacrament Huguenot School to improve its facilities. (Photos courtesy Blessed Sacrament)
A multiyear project to up the ante at The Blessed Sacrament Huguenot School is complete, culminating with the debut of a new student center at the school’s campus in Powhatan.
The Brower Student Center opened as the largest and final piece of an overall $14 million round of projects at the Catholic private school over the past five years that included new facilities and investments in staff and curriculum expansion.
The student center, which cost $7.4 million to build and equip, was added to help the school better handle its growing enrollment. Since 2018, Blessed Sacrament’s student count has grown to 460 from 257, an increase of 80%.
The 18,000-square-foot, two-story Brower Center features 19 new classrooms and learning spaces. The center houses an art studio, green-screen studio for media and technology education, a performing arts theater, a gym, weight room and other facilities.
The general contractor for the student center build-out was M.L. Bell Construction. Architecture firm Gooss & Associates designed the building.
The center was originally planned to be 22,400 square feet, but the size was decreased to avoid the expense of preparing the project site, which backs up to a hill, for the larger building, according to a school spokeswoman.
The center is named for Kathleen and Keith Brower, the grandparents of Arabella Stuart Brower, a student at Blessed Sacrament who passed away from a heart condition before graduating. The school called the Browers a driving force in the Knight’s Charge capital campaign that financed the center and other projects.
“The Browers turned their sorrow into a blessing, providing the school with many improvements, starting with a fresh coat of paint in 2018 and culminating with the completion of the Brower Student Center,” stated a prepared statement from Bless Sacrament.
The Blessed Sacrament Huguenot School held a grand opening for its new student center in February. Pictured are (from left) Bishop Barry Knestout, Diocese of Richmond; Meredith Perry, assistant head of school;
Tracy Hamner, head of school; Keith Brower and Kathleen Brower.
The school held a grand opening ceremony for the student center Feb. 20, which was also the first day that students used the space.
The center’s completion followed several years of projects on Blessed Sacrament’s 40-acre campus at 2501 Academy Road.
In 2018-2019, Blessed Sacrament spent $2.5 million to add a new playground, repaint the school’s exterior, train staff and finance retention initiatives as well as marketing and scholarship efforts.
Since 2020, which was the start of the Knight’s Charge campaign, the school has built a 2,700-square-foot visual art center ($845,000); renovated more than 30 classrooms, its library and main office for nearly $1 million; renovated the Parker Gym (a $783,000 project) and spent $500,000 on staff salaries, new hires, curriculum expansions and other initiatives.
The school received funds from the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, private donors and foundations including the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation, Dominion Foundation and Richmond S. Reynolds Foundation.
The school previously anticipated that its campaign would raise $8.3 million to realize the capital, workforce and staff plans associated with it. That figure ticked upward to $11.8 million because of inflation and the addition of further projects, including a pump house to supply the student center with water and fire-suppression capabilities, the spokeswoman said.
Blessed Sacrament teaches students from pre-kindergarten to grade 12 and also offers programming for 2- and 3-year-olds. Lower School (kindergarten-5th grade) tuition for the 2024-2025 academic year ranges from $8,900 to $11,300. Upper School (grades 6-12) tuition ranges from $12,300 to $17,150, according to the school website.
The school is part of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond and was formed in 1998 when Blessed Sacrament at Belmead and Huguenot Academy merged.
The recently opened Brower Student Center came as a major project of a larger, multiyear effort at The Blessed Sacrament Huguenot School to improve its facilities. (Photos courtesy Blessed Sacrament)
A multiyear project to up the ante at The Blessed Sacrament Huguenot School is complete, culminating with the debut of a new student center at the school’s campus in Powhatan.
The Brower Student Center opened as the largest and final piece of an overall $14 million round of projects at the Catholic private school over the past five years that included new facilities and investments in staff and curriculum expansion.
The student center, which cost $7.4 million to build and equip, was added to help the school better handle its growing enrollment. Since 2018, Blessed Sacrament’s student count has grown to 460 from 257, an increase of 80%.
The 18,000-square-foot, two-story Brower Center features 19 new classrooms and learning spaces. The center houses an art studio, green-screen studio for media and technology education, a performing arts theater, a gym, weight room and other facilities.
The general contractor for the student center build-out was M.L. Bell Construction. Architecture firm Gooss & Associates designed the building.
The center was originally planned to be 22,400 square feet, but the size was decreased to avoid the expense of preparing the project site, which backs up to a hill, for the larger building, according to a school spokeswoman.
The center is named for Kathleen and Keith Brower, the grandparents of Arabella Stuart Brower, a student at Blessed Sacrament who passed away from a heart condition before graduating. The school called the Browers a driving force in the Knight’s Charge capital campaign that financed the center and other projects.
“The Browers turned their sorrow into a blessing, providing the school with many improvements, starting with a fresh coat of paint in 2018 and culminating with the completion of the Brower Student Center,” stated a prepared statement from Bless Sacrament.
The Blessed Sacrament Huguenot School held a grand opening for its new student center in February. Pictured are (from left) Bishop Barry Knestout, Diocese of Richmond; Meredith Perry, assistant head of school;
Tracy Hamner, head of school; Keith Brower and Kathleen Brower.
The school held a grand opening ceremony for the student center Feb. 20, which was also the first day that students used the space.
The center’s completion followed several years of projects on Blessed Sacrament’s 40-acre campus at 2501 Academy Road.
In 2018-2019, Blessed Sacrament spent $2.5 million to add a new playground, repaint the school’s exterior, train staff and finance retention initiatives as well as marketing and scholarship efforts.
Since 2020, which was the start of the Knight’s Charge campaign, the school has built a 2,700-square-foot visual art center ($845,000); renovated more than 30 classrooms, its library and main office for nearly $1 million; renovated the Parker Gym (a $783,000 project) and spent $500,000 on staff salaries, new hires, curriculum expansions and other initiatives.
The school received funds from the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, private donors and foundations including the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation, Dominion Foundation and Richmond S. Reynolds Foundation.
The school previously anticipated that its campaign would raise $8.3 million to realize the capital, workforce and staff plans associated with it. That figure ticked upward to $11.8 million because of inflation and the addition of further projects, including a pump house to supply the student center with water and fire-suppression capabilities, the spokeswoman said.
Blessed Sacrament teaches students from pre-kindergarten to grade 12 and also offers programming for 2- and 3-year-olds. Lower School (kindergarten-5th grade) tuition for the 2024-2025 academic year ranges from $8,900 to $11,300. Upper School (grades 6-12) tuition ranges from $12,300 to $17,150, according to the school website.
The school is part of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond and was formed in 1998 when Blessed Sacrament at Belmead and Huguenot Academy merged.
Does anyone else find it ironic that there is a Catholic school named “The Blessed Sacrament Huguenot School” when, historically, the Huguenots fled France to escape Catholic persecution of Protestants?