The Harris Family Children's Center

February 16, 2006

Chuck Harris '69

To hear Chuck Harris '69 tell his story just proves that you should never assume too much about a person. For example, the retired Goldman Sachs managing director at one time toured as the singer and guitarist of a rock group called the Walnut Band and much prefers his BMW motorcycle to other forms of transportation. Maybe a little surprisingly for a former Wall Street guy, Chuck is also a chief benefactor of the new children’s center currently under construction at Phillips Exeter Academy. Again, however, Chuck challenges the assumption.

“I actually participated in a study for Goldman Sachs that led to them putting in a children’s center to accommodate working parents,” explains Harris. Chuck’s interest in the Academy’s children’s center (which was established in 1988 and housed for its first few years in an apartment on Tan Lane before moving to its current site, a former print shop on Water Street) began a number of years ago when he joined the Academy Life Task Force as a trustee representative. Being involved with the task force, says Chuck, gave him a strong sense of what life was like for Exeter’s students and faculty. “Hearing about the triple threat from the people who were living it really struck a chord,” remembers Chuck. “This is a community where people are stretched in many different directions, and it became clear that we needed to think of ways to enhance the quality of life for our faculty and staff, in addition to ways that we could effectively recruit and retain the most talented people. The children’s center came to the fore during this time as a priority. While the team of teachers and their approach were, and are, terrific, the existing facility was not getting the job done. The capacity and layout were too restricting.”

Consultant Michael Kalinowski was eventually hired to complete an in-depth study of the space, and a Child Care Study Group (CCSG) was formed to evaluate Kalinowski’s report and make recommendations to the school’s leadership. Due diligence confirmed dire need, with the CCSG ultimately recommending that PEA construct a significantly larger facility. Fund raising for the project began in earnest in 2001, and the Boston-based architectural firm of Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype (BH+A) was retained to design a new center adjacent to the existing one. Impressed with the urgency of the project, Chuck Harris soon stepped up with a lead gift.

When it is completed in summer 2006, the Harris Family Children’s Center, named in honor of Chuck’s mother and late father, will nearly quadruple the size of the current center and allow for more than double the current number of children to attend. A three-quarter day kindergarten program for 20 students will be added, and the center’s after-school program, currently run at an off-site location, will be greatly expanded and fully accommodated within the new center. An emphasis on open space and natural light will permit the center’s director and teachers to further incorporate the teaching philosophies of Italy’s highly-acclaimed Reggio Emilia schools. In true Exeter fashion, the Harris Family Children’s Center will also have a Harkness Conservatory, an extended project space for research and experimentation replete with two adjustable mini-Harkness tables.

For History Instructor Ron Kim, who chaired the Child Care Study Group that conceptualized and advocated the new center and whose own son, Sam, attends the current center, it is “remarkable to see the actual construction and know we’ll open this year.” Now associate dean of faculty for Exeter, Ron heads up the Academy’s teacher recruiting efforts, which makes him even happier about the Harris Family Children’s Center. “When potential Exeter teachers ask me about childcare options here, there’s a big difference between saying we have our own center and saying that there are childcare options available in the local community. It’s one of the ways we can and do demonstrate that we are welcoming to families and children, and it conveys the extent to which we are willing to support our teachers and staff.” Having a bigger center, Ron says, will only make his case stronger. “I’m much more inclined to discuss the benefits of the center if I’m confident there are spots available,” he explains, referencing the fact that the current center must turn away some faculty and staff families due to space and program limitations.

Now chair of The Exeter Initiatives, the Academy’s comprehensive fund-raising campaign, Chuck Harris explains that the idea of naming the new children’s center for his parents resulted from a strong desire to honor them. “My parents made a big sacrifice for me to travel 1,000 miles to Exeter,” says the Salisbury, North Carolina, native and former scholarship student. “I owe them a lot and felt naming the center for them would be a nice way to say something about that. Plus, there is clearly a connection between the quality care that I received in my own family and that my wife was able to give our sons and the care given in this facility.” Thanks to Chuck’s generosity, it’s a connection that will be magnified for Academy families for generations to come.

back to news