On a beautiful sunny afternoon in May, the Potomac School in McLean broke ground on a new Lower School building. Construction on the new Lower School, featuring state-of-the-art facilities that will reflect core principles of the Potomac School education, was officially commenced with students, faculty, and board-members alike ceremoniously taking up shovels and breaking ground on the Gum Tree Field as hundreds of students and parents looked on. As first- through third- graders looked on wearing plastic yellow hardhats, a feeling of optimism and excitement for the future filled the springtime air. Watching the festivities play out, one couldn’t help but get the impression that this project means more to the people of the Potomac School than simply a building project to better accommodate students. "This building will embody our hopes and dreams for the future," said Head of the Lower School, Donna Lewis.
THE CEREMONY began with short speeches by a selected panel including Head of School Geoffrey Jones, Head of Lower School Donna Lewis, Chair of the Board of Trustees Dorothy McAuliffe, a long-time Potomac Parent, Rich Fairbank, and Potomac Senior Class President Robin Nichols. Next came a dramatic entrance by beloved school mascot, PAWS, much to the delight of screaming Lower School students, who craned their necks to catch a glimpse of their favorite panther. To end the celebration, the third grade serenaded the crowd with a clever ditty, written about the building of their new facility. As Potomac parents and students alike reflected on the wonderful spring weather and the exciting new project that was about to get underway, Rich Fairbank, a Potomac School parent who currently has two daughters at the institution summed up the afternoon saying: "Sixteen months from now when you see the lower school facility complete, you all can say ‘I was right here when it all began.’"