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Karen Cumberbatch: I show you that, so that you can get a sense of the way that we inhabit the space, so as you can 165
<br />see there's been new intentionality to maintain the tree growth as much as possible. It's really a 166
<br />tremendous value to us to be able to look out our windows and see the fullness of the greenery 167
<br />that is available to us. It is really important to us that our kids are outside, that they are 168
<br />experiencing the opportunity to play in the creek and that is something that we hold sacrosanct. 169
<br />We know that the knowledge base that is core to walking lightly on the earth, and also to being a 170
<br />laboratory for us. We intentionally teach our students about environmental stewardship, and our 171
<br />classes from the youngest to the oldest can be seen conducting experiments, observing insects, 172
<br />birds, snakes, all of that, maintaining their actual habitats. That's a part of what we do, and as I 173
<br />said, outdoor play, all of our students have access to the outdoors throughout the course of the 174
<br />day, again core to what we believe is important for students. We teach our students to be grateful 175
<br />for the ways that being in nature can expand their minds and hearts, and that there's a 176
<br />sacredness in nature that we hope they will come to appreciate and to work to protect. So, for the 177
<br />future, for us, the rezoning will allow us to lean into a future, where we'll continue to live with these 178
<br />same values. These will continue to be the ways that we will approach any additions that might 179
<br />happen, or any changes that might happen, as we have done for the past 60 years, but we'll also 180
<br />be maintaining and enhancing our sustainability efforts. One of our goals is to ensure that all of 181
<br />the new features are built as sustainably as possible, and contain features that will minimize our 182
<br />carbon footprint, and we'll continue with the same uses of the land for educating students with 183
<br />enhanced learning spaces that we have in the past. We're not looking to make any significant 184
<br />changes in our use, and it will allow us to serve more students in the future. You know, which we, 185
<br />which we believe we're a school that has a lot to offer, and so we're looking for ways to be able to 186
<br />serve even more families. Thank you for hearing a little bit about Carolina Friends, and I'm going 187
<br />to pass the mic. 188
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<br />Ellen Weinstein: Good evening. I'm Ellen Weinstein, an architect at With Architecture, and I've had the privilege of 190
<br />working with Carolina Friends School since the early 1990s. This is the Carolina Friends School 191
<br />campus today. Friends School has served as a steward of its 110 acre campus since the early 192
<br />1960s. The campus is bordered by Friends School Road to the east, Mount Sinai Road to the 193
<br />south, with residential neighbors to the west and north. There is an entrance to campus from 194
<br />Friends School Road indicated with the orange arrow and it is the only active entry into campus. 195
<br />There is service access from Mount Sinai Road it is a gated. It's a gated entry and opened 196
<br />infrequently for campus maintenance. The campus combines wooded areas with open pass-197
<br />throughs in the southern, and northwestern sections. Natural features include a pond to the north, 198
<br />and a stream that bisects the campus with segments flowing southwest, and southeast, 24 199
<br />buildings currently house classrooms, lab spaces, performance spaces, meeting rooms, and 200
<br />offices. The campus layout flows from the entry point with lower school building nearest the 201
<br />entrance, followed by middle school, upper school, and early school moving southward. Shared 202
<br />campus facilities include a gymnasium, soccer fields, performing arts center, a track, and cross-203
<br />country trail. Over the past two and a half years, Friends School has undertaken an extensive 204
<br />campus master planning process to envision, and plan for the future. Five-year development 205
<br />goals include a new upper school, expanded drop off and parking areas, and enhanced Mount 206
<br />Sinai Road access as a second campus entry point. According to the traffic impact analysis 207
<br />prepared by Kimberly Horn for this submittal, opening this second entry point, will reduce traffic 208
<br />congestion on Friends School Road, and improve campus access, and safety for all users, and 209
<br />the neighbors. What is the vision for campus in 15 years? Well, this is a little more conceptual, 210
<br />15 years is a long, long, long time, and so it's more conceptual in nature. Friends School 211
<br />anticipates potential need for additions to lower school, middle school, and early school, a 212
<br />gymnasium perhaps near the tennis courts, maintenance building across from the new gym, 213
<br />additional outdoor learning spaces, which play a vital role in providing hands on experiences in 214
<br />nature, and sustainability studies. So, Carolina Friends School’s current campus is on the left, 215
<br />vision for 2040 on the right. I think this hopefully shows you the measured growth on the campus, 216
<br />while remaining a school in the woods. I look forward to your questions when the presentation is 217
<br />complete. Thank you. 218
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