With "Hope Hall" On The Horizon, Solebury School Celebrates

SOLEBURY TOWNSHIP, PA — Solebury School hosted "Celebrating Solebury" on May 6 to thank the community and donors for supporting its "Shaping Solebury: Building for our Future" capital campaign.

More than 200 guests spent the day on campus enjoying festivities.

They were entertained by live music from current students and well-known alumni, including Mark Cosgrove ’74 and Clover Stieve ’14.

Adults took student-guided campus tours and gathered to bid on silent auction items supporting this year's special appeal.

Children played in the kids’ zone, which offered face painting, a bounce house, balloon art, and activities.

Visitors were treated to a hard hat tour and got a sneak peek at Solebury School's dormitory-in-progress, Hope Hall.

And everyone enjoyed barbecue and local food trucks.

The Blue Wren Coffee House Food Truck was a popular stop. (Tiffany Robinson)

The kids area with bounce house, face painting, balloon art and games. (Tiffany Robinson)

"Today, we see incredible progress toward our strategic goals set in 2016 for our school's growth, development, and change. I credit Dan Cohen ’63 for leading the Shaping Solebury campaign beyond our initial goals," shared Tom Wilschutz, Head of School. "Thanks to his dedication and the generosity of our donors and supporters, we will open Hope Hall dormitory, which includes modern one- to three-bedroom apartments for our dorm parents in fall 2023. The Shaping Solebury campaign is the first of a multi-phase effort designed to keep Solebury School thriving for another 100 years."

Celebrating Solebury marks the close of the most successful campaign in school history and completes phase one of the master strategic plan for campus improvements. The "Shaping Solebury: Building For Our Future" campaign is funding the construction of Hope Hall, a new Passive House 32-bed dormitory, which includes four dorm parent apartments.

The school also installed a new microfiltration membrane bioreactor (MBR) wastewater treatment plant to reduce the impact on the environment downstream. Solebury School's Science department will incorporate the processes of the new wastewater treatment plant into its curriculum, making it one of the most sophisticated outdoor laboratories on campus.

"So many ideas and plans over the years are coming to fruition. Hope Hall will be the first new dormitory built on campus since Walter Lamb Hall, which was dedicated in 1998. This incredible, sustainably minded residential space will be home for generations of memories, starting with today. What a gift it is to share this with generations of Solebury School alumni who have joined us here on campus to commemorate this milestone today," shared Jennifer K. Burns P’19, Assistant Head of School, Advancement & External Affairs. "It's an amazing time to be at Solebury."

Class of 1974's Mark Cosgrove (right) and trio perform at Solesbury. (Tiffany Robinson)