Growing Together
Students returning to school at summer’s end find campuses revamped to foster learning, growth, and connection.
by Bill Donahue

Mark A. Devey remembers the days when summers were a relative “breeze” for school administrators. That’s not the case anymore, as people in his position—head of Perkiomen School, a coeducational college-preparatory boarding and day school in Pennsburg—now maintain busy schedules regardless of season.
 
“Right now, as I look out my window, we have three major projects taking place,” he says. “There’s a vein of activity running straight through the campus.”
 
To his point, students returning to school this fall will see their campuses and classrooms changed for the better, in much the same way summer break has altered them. The classrooms may be empty for the summer months, but the on-campus work continues, through fundraising efforts, capital projects designed to enhance student life—namely, renovations, reinventions, and new additions to the physical plant—and revisions to the academic curriculum.
 
It has been a particularly busy summer at Villa Maria Academy High School, an all-girls Catholic college-preparatory high school in Malvern. On the academic and technology front, the school has added small-group collaboration spaces just outside of the Learning Commons and Library. In the school’s Saint Joseph’s building, the IT and Facilities departments have teamed up to create a new 3D printing and makerspace lab, providing students with additional opportunities for hands-on learning, design, and innovation. To support the growing technology needs of the school, the school has significantly expanded its internal network capacity and its internet connectivity, thereby increasing bandwidth to enhance performance and reliability across campus. 
 
“Additionally, we have strengthened our cybersecurity posture through upgrades to our firewall and content filtering systems while continuing to evaluate and implement new security measures to help better protect our students, faculty, staff, and institutional data,” says a school spokesperson. “The Tech Department is always actively evaluating and implementing new software solutions that can enhance teaching and learning, improve operational efficiency, and further enrich the experience of our community.”
 
Villa Maria’s Facilities Department has also kept busy creating a new throwing area for the track-and-field events of discus, shot put, and hammer. The new throwing area will allow for the track and field to be utilized for additional sports, such as a new flag football program. The school is also installing a new patio that will serve as a destination point for outdoor learning events, as well as provide a nice place to enjoy lunch outside in kinder weather. 
 
Change is also afoot at Friends’ Central School in Wynnewood, particularly in regard to its athletics facilities. By September, the school will have completed the first phase of “Phoenix Rising,” a campaign to reimagine several Friends’ Central flagship spaces for athletics and wellness on the school’s City Avenue campus. The spaces include state-of-the-art turf fields for the field hockey, lacrosse, softball, girls’ soccer, boys’ soccer, and baseball programs, according to the Friends’ Central Communications Office.
 
The new, durable, fast-draining fields—a turf surface inside the track for lacrosse and soccer; a turf surface for field hockey and softball; a turf infield and resodded grass outfield for a new baseball facility; and a premier grass field between the baseball facility and the track—will replace fields no longer capable of sustaining heavy use. As a result of these investments, Friend’s Central’s award-winning student-athletes will be able to play and train year-round.
 
As for Perkiomen School, Devey expects another robust year of on-campus activity and innovation. Last year the school unveiled the Helen and DeLight Breidegam Jr. Student Center, which has become a campus hub—or the campus hub, to hear Devey tell the story.
 
“We achieved everything we were hoping for and more from that project,” he says. Incidentally, the jaw-droppingly gorgeous center, which was designed by Flansburgh Architects, earned a spot on an architecture-based TV program known as America ByDESIGN.
 
Per Devey’s vision, the center has helped students create deeper connections, not only with fellow students, but also with the kinds of experiences he believes will serve them in the future. He sees food and the arts as central to that mission. The center includes multiple spaces in which musically inclined students can perform and collaborate, as well as an upscale snack bar and dining area known as Lloyd’s, with an accompanying teaching kitchen where students can learn how to cook.
 
“Managing large numbers of kids is complicated and challenging,” Devey says. “Instead of trying to force fill their time, we emphasize the importance of freedom and having a bit of time and space to themselves during the school day. Filling up their time makes it easier to manage kids, but it doesn’t allow them to be creative or inventive. They need time to reflect and connect, and the student center helps them do that.”
 
The student center has also inspired the school to expand its Institutes at Perkiomen, through which students can explore new ideas and, in a way, test-drive prospective career paths. Soon, an institute devoted to media and communication will join existing institutes for artificial intelligence, entrepreneurialism, medicine, and design.
 
Beyond the student center, Perkiomen School is reimagining its campus with enhancements such as pickleball courts, an outdoor fireplace and play space, and a quad-like gathering venue known as Finnegan’s on the Green. Devey expects the spaces to be completed by this fall.
 
“Our focus as an institution is to create spaces for kids to come together and focus on the human beings in their spaces and the growth opportunities that come with that,” he adds. “With everything we do, we’re trying to place greater emphasis on less technology and more personal connection.”
 
Keep an Open Mind
Not long after students return to the classroom, local schools will open their doors to prospective students and their families. Open-house events help provide a clearer picture of each school’s personality and approach to education. Our recommendation: Consult school websites and social media for details about upcoming open houses that can help families understand which schools most closely align with their children’s needs and goals for the future.
 
BUCKS & MONTGOMERY COUNTIES
Abington Friends School
abingtonfriends.net
 
Academy of the New Church
ancss.org
 
AIM Academy
aimpa.org
 
The Agnes Irwin School
agnesirwin.org
 
Archbishop Wood High School
archwood.org
 
The Baldwin School
baldwinschool.org
 
Center School
centerschoolpa.org
 
Conwell-Egan Catholic High School
conwell-egan.org
 
Dock Mennonite Academy
dock.org
 
Friends’ Central School
friendscentral.org
 
Friends School Haverford
friendshaverford.org
 
Germantown Academy
germantownacademy.net
 
Gladwyne Montessori
gladwyne.org
 
Gwynedd Mercy Academy High School
gmahs.org
 
The Haverford School
haverford.org
 
Holy Ghost Preparatory School
holyghostprep.org
 
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
jbha.org
 
La Salle College High School
lschs.org
 
The Meadowbrook School
themeadowbrookschool.org
 
Merion Mercy Academy
merion-mercy.com
 
Mount Saint Joseph Academy
msjacad.org
 
Newtown Friends School
newtownfriends.org
 
Perkiomen School
perkiomen.org
 
Solebury School
solebury.org
 
Villa Joseph Marie High School
vjmhs.org
 
The Wyndcroft School
wyndcroft.org
 
CHESTER & DELAWARE COUNTIES
Academy of Notre Dame de Namur
ndapa.org
 
Archbishop John Carroll High School
jcarroll.org
 
Benchmark School
benchmarkschool.org
 
The Concept School
theconceptschool.org
 
Delaware County Christian School
dccs.org
 
Delaware Valley Friends School
dvfriends.org
 
The Episcopal Academy
episcopalacademy.org
 
Kimberton Waldorf School
kimberton.org
 
Malvern Preparatory School
malvernprep.org
 
Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School
bonnerprendie.com
                                                                                
The Phelps School
thephelpsschool.org
 
Sacred Heart Academy Bryn Mawr
shabrynmawr.org
 
The Shipley School
shipleyschool.org
 
Woodlynde School
woodlynde.org
 
Villa Maria Academy High School
vmahs.org
 
PHILADELPHIA
The Crefeld School
crefeld.org
 
Father Judge High School
fatherjudge.com
 
Nazareth Academy High School
nazarethacademyhs.org
 
Roman Catholic High School
romancatholichs.com
 
St. Joseph’s Preparatory School
sjprep.org
 
West Catholic Preparatory High School
westcatholic.org
 
William Penn Charter School
penncharter.com
 
DELAWARE & NEW JERSEY
Archmere Academy
archmereacademy.com
 
The Bridge Academy
bridgeacademynj.org
 
The Hun School of Princeton
hunschool.org
 
The Lawrenceville School
lawrenceville.org
 
Notre Dame High School
ndnj.org
 
The Pennington School
pennington.org
 
Salesianum School
salesianum.org 
 
Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart
stuartschool.org
 
Tatnall School
tatnall.org
 
Tower Hill School
towerhill.org
 
Ursuline Academy
ursuline.org
 
Villa Victoria Academy
villavictoria.org
 
VIRTUAL LEARNING
The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School
pacyber.org
 
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life, September 2026.