Potomac Stories

Our Spanish 5 Honors class attended a field trip to GALA theatre to watch a live performance of "La casa de Bernarda Alba" by Federico García Lorca. The play, set in rural Spain, explores themes of authority, repression, honor, and gender roles as Bernarda Alba imposes strict control over her daughters, adhering to the social expectations of the time. Experiencing the story through live theatre enabled students to gain a deeper understanding of the emotional intensity and cultural context of the work. After the performance, students participated in a session where they could ask questions and engage directly with the actors about the characters, themes, and staging. To complete the cultural experience, students also enjoyed authentic Dominican Republic cuisine, helping them connect language, literature, and Hispanic culture in a meaningful and immersive way.  

On Tuesday, nine Upper School Advanced Architecture students were treated to a comprehensive tour of our new Middle School building site, courtesy of Joanna Schmickel of CGS Architects and Kyle Erickson of Davis Construction. The visit began in the Arundel Library, Davis Construction's field office, to discuss Building Information Modeling (BIM) systems and the power they offer contemporary designers and engineers to plan complex structures. During this dazzling demonstration, Joanna reminded us that the key to good design is always empathy, the imagination of the architect exploring the hopes and needs of the client.After a review of their data-rich software, the tour moved into the fresh air to examine the heavy hardware at work in assembling the physical building. It was breathtaking to see how much progress has been made, literally through rain, snow, and the dark of night. The steel framing of the buildings is complete, and now additional infrastructure systems are being installed, such as plumbing, HVAC, electrical, and fire-prevention systems. 

Pre-construction software modeling was so accurate that even massive steel columns and beams could be designed, ordered, fabricated, and installed without alteration, down to the smallest bolt holes. After the visit, junior Lara Senyuz said, "I was so impressed that the builders could achieve such a tiny margin of error." We were all amazed and very grateful to the coordinating teams of designers, engineers, and builders who are making this new Middle School building possible.