Friday, March 27, 2015

Bill DiPaolo at Post on opening of the new Benjamin Hall Performing Arts Center

The Benjamin Hall Performing Arts Center is part of the Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens. For reference, the school is located south of Scripps Research Institute and immediately east of the Briger Tract (which has been in the news quite often of late). The Benjamin School is neither a public school nor a charter school, but a private school that funds itself a myriad of ways including tuition, grants, and fundraising. From the article:
     With the growth of charter and at-home schools, private schools such as Benjamin are facing increased competition. Benjamin has started promoting itself on a national level to attract more students, Lewis [Burnham Lewis, the school’s assistant head for advancement] said.
     “We are not just a private school for privileged students. We attract students from all income levels with all kinds of interests,” he said.
Raising the $11 million is part of an overall $40 million fundraising campaign. Preliminary plans call for building a field house, aquatics center and more construction on the Benjamin campus in North Palm Beach. About $12 million of the $40 million is planned for endowments supporting faculty and financial aid, Lewis said.
You can read about another private school (on a much smaller scale) opening in the City of Lake Worth called the Classical Christian Academy of the Palm Beaches. They're having a public meeting tonight at 7:00; the details are in the link above.