TOGETHER WE PLAY Capital Campaign
As of May, 2024, we are thrilled to launch the TOGETHER WE PLAY Capital Campaign at Chatham Day School. This Campaign will be supporting significant athletic expansion and increased athletic opportunity across the school.
The athletic expansions will allow children of all ages to make year-round use of a new Turf Field, a new all-purpose outdoor Sports Court, and an improved and renovated Fieldhouse. Additionally, the Campaign will support new coaches, new uniforms, and new Physical Education offerings across the school. We are so excited to provide our students these benefits, as we know athletics can bring out the best in individuals whilst simultaneously bringing people together. This culture of drawing out and fostering individual interests is inextricably linked with a necessity of community participation at CDS. There is nothing like being seen and heard while being part of a team.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions (project questions, multi-year gift questions, naming rights questions). We are excited to work together to make this happen for our students.
Sincerely,
David Buffum
Head of School
A major renovation and upgrade to the Dr. Robert and Sonja Rickert Field House (gymnasium). We are adding four extra basketball hoops in the gym (on the long sides of the rectangular court) so we can play and practice simultaneously with two ‘full court’ games. The new basketball hoops will fold down electrically when needed and once they are fully retracted and in place, they can be electronically lowered to 8.5 feet instead of the standard 10 feet. This will further allow children of all ages to take full use of the Field House and our rapidly expanding basketball program. Additionally, we will be repainting and relining to court to allow for regular full court games, the two smaller full court games, and indoor volleyball games. Finally, we will be fully renovating our bleachers to allow for full extension that does not breach the basketball sideline.
The new outdoor sports court will be a 84′ x 52′ muti-use court, with a Sports Court Power Game surface. This will be ideal for street hockey, outdoor basketball, volleyball, and a variety of racquet sports. A fun bonus is that if we can secure the court ‘base’ that we desire, we will have a full sized, fully functional pickleball court at the school which will be open to all community members!
The Turf Field is a proposed 14,500 square foot addition to Chatham Day School and will transform our outdoor space. It will allow for outdoor practice space, small-sided soccer games and year-round use. Stay tuned for a full CAD rendering, but please see below the design that will submitted to the town for approval!
This falls more into the timely and timeless category, as we have already committed to new teams, new coaches, and many more games starting this coming fall and moving into the winter. There will be a boys and girls soccer team added in the fall (to accompany our already existing cross country team) and there will be a fencing team added in the winter (to accompany the existing basketball teams). The year over year cost of coaches and transportation to away games is substantial, and our new uniforms will need to be upgraded every two or three years.