Ursuline Academy of Dedham Dedicates Athletic and Convocation Center in Honor of Reynolds Family

From Ursuline Academy: At a dedication ceremony held on Saturday, September 23, Ursuline Academy’s new Athletic & Convocation Center was named “The Reynolds Family Athletic & Convocation Center” in honor of the Reynolds family of Westwood. William Reynolds and his wife Ella (deceased) and their daughters have passionately supported Ursuline Academy for over fifty years. Margaret Reynolds of Westwood, a graduate of the class of 1982, currently serves as the Chairperson of Ursuline’s Board of Trustees. The building was blessed by Cardinal Seán O’Malley at a Mass of the Holy Spirit on September 5, where approximately 500 students, faculty, staff, and honored guests joyfully gathered to pray and celebrate.

The Athletic & Convocation Center was officially opened for student use on the first day of the 2017-18 school year. The ACC, a 40,000 square foot facility housing athletic, academic, and community gathering space, is the culmination of nearly ten years of strategic work, planning, fundraising, and construction, and is the largest undertaking since the school moved to Dedham in 1958. Situated between the original school building and the historic mansion that was once home to the Ursuline Sisters, the addition of the Athletic & Convocation Center brings together Ursuline's past and its future and makes the physical plant feel like a true campus with a “college-like” feel.

The Reynolds Family Athletic and Convocation Center features a gym that will host athletic competitions and community gatherings, an “IDEAHub” to foster exploring with technology, three classrooms, a fitness center, a track, locker facilities, a student lounge, and a boardroom-style meeting space.

Within the first weeks of school, the IDEAHub alone has generated a buzz among students and faculty. So named because it is a space where students can Innovate, Design, Engage, and Apply, the IDEAHub is filled with a variety of technological equipment like laser cutters, 3D printers, a digital paper cutter, a large format printer, virtual reality equipment, audio/video gear and more. The space itself, with writable walls and movable white boards, is set up to foster creativity and collaboration.

Every academic discipline will be spending time in the IDEAHub to encourage both students and teachers to approach learning in new ways. Already, students have toured Paris using the virtual reality gear in French class, and filmed the Mass of the Holy Spirit with the audio-visual equipment. Next door to the IDEAHub is a fully-equipped fitness facility that is available for school athletic teams and individual students and faculty to engage in strength training. A personal trainer is available each afternoon to guide students and staff in their workouts.

Said Cardinal Seán after his visit, “For 500 years the Ursuline Sisters have been providing excellent Catholic education to young women, and Ursuline Academy is just one more example of that legacy. We are indeed blessed to have this Academy in our archdiocese.”

Photos courtesy of Ursuline Academy