Holy Cross Episcopal School - Montgomery, Alabama
By: Jennifer Walker - Journey
Principal Melanie Kelley does not hesitate when asked what makes the school she oversees in Montgomery, Alabama, so special. It is the history. Though just a decade old, the roots of Holy Cross Episcopal School run more than a century deep.
“It’s part of the beauty of this place,” she said, surrounded by the school’s gothic arches and pronounced crosses. “This place is special. It’s not what you traditionally find when you go into a school.”
In 1995, Kelley and other members of Montgomery’s Episcopal community were asked to serve on an ad hoc committee to discus the possibility of opening an Episcopal school. The response was positive and plans began moving toward that goal. A longtime parishioner of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension, who also served as a member of the committee, donated land for the school adjacent to her family’s property in a fast-growing and desirable section of the town. The church hired architects Seay, Seay & Litchfield in Montgomery to draw up plans.
Within three years of the initial ad hoc meeting, the academic groundwork was laid for Holy Cross Episcopal School, and classes began with 13 students ranging from kindergarten to second grade. With no building yet constructed, the students met at Church of the Holy Comforter. The second year, the student body grew to 36 with grades kindergarten to fourth grade, and the school moved to Christ the Redeemer Church.
During these early years, Rich Webster, the Curate of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Montgomery and Chaplain of Holy Cross, received an unusual phone call. A woman who lived near the downtown church said she wanted to sell her house but insisted that Chaplain Webster see it first. Once he laid eyes on the building, she claimed, the church would surely want to buy it. After all, she continued, it was once a church built by St. John’s.
Chaplain Webster admitted he was skeptical. After all, he had never heard of such a church owned by St. John’s. But, he dropped by the following week to check out the claim.
“Behind the abandoned cars and an old washtub on the porch, we could see the steep roofline of a house, which could have been a church, but we were not prepared for what we saw inside,” wrote Chaplain Webster in the Summer 1998 Holy Cross newsletter.
Inside, the owner had knocked out the ceilings in the first and third stories of the building, which had been lowered some years ago to make the structure feel more like a home. Tearing down the ceilings had exposed arched beams, inside of each hung a cross. The woman then turned to Chaplain Webster and his companions and asked, “Would you like to see the words in the attic?” Curious, the men ascended the ladder to the attic, peered through a hole into what Chaplain Webster said had to be the sanctuary. On a painted arch were the words, “The Lord is in His Holy Temple.”
“I felt from that moment that I was not merely in an abandoned house on Plum Street. Rather, I was standing on Holy ground,” Chaplain Webster wrote.
After some research, Chaplain Webster discovered that the old house was built in 1896 as the Chapel of the Annunciation and served as a mission of St. John’s. The church got off to a shaky start, closing for several years before reopening in the early 1900s. The name was later changed to Christ Church before the building was sold in 1924 and converted into a house.
Discovering the chapel presented an “exciting opportunity for St. John’s, Holy Cross, the wider Christian community, and the city of Montgomery,” Chaplain Webster said.
St. John’s purchased the house with plans to move it to the donated property and have it serve as the school’s chapel. The chapel also would define the style of Holy Cross, giving the new school a sense of ageless beauty.
Meantime, Seay, Seay & Litchfield began drawing up the master plan for Holy Cross Episcopal School. Because budget was a concern, the overall campus was master planned so that the school could be constructed in phases, with the first phases dedicated to kindergarten and lower elementary grades and the chapel. The following phases were planned for a multipurpose room, a cafeteria, and upper grade classrooms. The entire project would finish out at 23,300 square feet and cost about $4.5 million. Because the contractor was brought onto the design team early on, he was able to assist with estimates at the schematic, preliminary phases to help keep cost in check.
During this process, it was determined that the old chapel was in such bad condition that it simply could not be moved. They salvaged wood, the center stone, and other elements from the old chapel and incorporated them into the new design.
“Moreover, the master plan for the school focused on the design of the chapel and centered on the Christian-based learning environment,” Seay said. “The building massing and carpenter gothic details reflect the English roots of an Episcopal private school. The more public interior spaces emulate the character of the chapel.”
The size and proportions of the main entry hall were designed to allow for multiple functions, gatherings, receptions and meetings. There, the trusses, which follow the configuration of those found in the chapel, emulate the carpenter gothic style.
The center of the campus was designed with a large green space with pathways connecting the buildings. At 200 feet in diameter, the green space is large enough to accommodate the entire student body in large school functions, yet is friendly enough for the day-to-day activities of the school. From above, the design appears like a cross with a circle around it.
Once the plans were final, the school began construction on the first phase, adding classrooms and the chapel. In 2000, Holy Cross Episcopal School opened its doors to 65 students ranging from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade.
Today, Holy Cross is growing steadily with 160 students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, with room for more growth. Each year, Kelley tells the students about the chapel and why it is so special to the school. Other traditions also have come about, including occasional visits from students to the woman who leaves next door, the individual who donated the property to the school a decade ago.
The school also begins each day with a chapel service, Kelley said, as “it just sets the tone for the day for both the children and the teachers.”
Holy Cross hopes to expand to other phases in its master plan in the years to come; however, Kelley said, there is no rush.
“I learned early on with all the surprises that have come along that in God’s time it will happen,” she said. “We just have to have patience.”
Seay, Seay & Litchfield in Montgomery, Alabama, is a service-oriented design firm focused on a philosophy of “Quality by Design,” “Disciplined Creativity,” and “Honoring Commitments.” Celebrating more than 31 years of service, Seay, Seay & Litchfield has a reputation of providing the best available services to its clients, www.sslarch.com.
Fast Facts
School: Holy Cross Episcopal School
Location: Montgomery, Alabama
Student Body: 160 students
Grades Serves: Pre-kindergarten through sixth grade
Project Goal: Build a school building for a newly formed Episcopal school
Size: 28,300 square feet for the completed master plan
Cost: $4.5 million for the completed master plan
Challenge: As with most institutional projects, the budget was a serious consideration.
Solution: After a pre-qualification process, the contractor was brought onto the design team early on to assist with estimates at the schematic, preliminary phases, which helped keep costs in check.
