As Franklin Academy prepares to open its 24th school year, the community is experiencing an exciting period of growth, momentum, and possibility. With that progress comes an important question: What should the next chapter of Franklin look like?
This fall, Franklin Academy is beginning a comprehensive Campus Master Plan in partnership with Tecton Architects. Made possible through a generous anonymous philanthropic gift, the process will bring together members of the Franklin community to imagine how the school’s East Haddam campus can continue to evolve for generations to come.
The initiative begins at a significant moment for Franklin. Following its recognition as Connecticut’s Best Private School in the 2026 Best of Connecticut Awards, the school enters the 2026–2027 academic year with record new-student enrollment, strong returning-student retention, expanding programs, and continued investment in the student experience.
“Being recognized as Connecticut’s Best Private School was an extraordinary affirmation of the work happening at Franklin, but we have never viewed recognition as a finish line,” said Dr. Alexander Morris-Wood, Head of School. “It creates a responsibility to keep asking what our students will need next. This master planning process gives us the opportunity to ask that question of our campus—to imagine how the spaces where students live, learn, connect, and grow can evolve alongside the school we are becoming.”
For Franklin, the Campus Master Plan is about much more than buildings. It is an opportunity to consider how academic and residential spaces, student life, outdoor environments, gathering spaces, accessibility, and campus connections can work together to support the Franklin experience.
Central to that work will be an intentional focus on how neurodivergent students experience the built environment. Tecton’s approach considers elements such as sensory comfort, clarity of movement, and access to both social and quiet spaces—recognizing that the physical environment itself can play an important role in supporting learning, independence, connection, and belonging.
“We are honored to collaborate with the students and staff at Franklin Academy to build upon their nearly 25 years of innovation, growth and inclusivity—to envision alongside their caring and dedicated campus family a future that continues their mission and gives every student the space to excel,” said Jeff Wyszynski, Principal and Chief Operating Officer at Tecton Architects.
The process will also be deeply collaborative. Throughout the coming months, students, faculty and staff, families, alumni, trustees, and school leadership will have opportunities to contribute their perspectives through workshops, think tanks, interviews, surveys, and campus conversations.
Together, the Franklin community will consider what works well about the campus today, where opportunities exist, and what students may need from Franklin’s physical environment in the years ahead.
For Franklin Academy’s Board of Trustees, the opportunity to undertake this work as the school approaches its 25th anniversary carries particular significance.
“As we prepare to celebrate Franklin Academy’s 25th year serving neurodivergent learners, we are excited about what has been accomplished and filled with anticipation for what is yet to come,” said Belinda Brennan, Chair of the Franklin Academy Board of Trustees. “With a vision to evolve our ability to serve the expanding needs of our community, we begin this work dedicated to creating a campus that will bring this vision to fruition.”
The planning process will culminate in a comprehensive Campus Master Plan designed to serve as a flexible roadmap for Franklin’s future. The final vision is expected to be unveiled to the broader Franklin Academy community at the school’s Gala on April 3, 2027.
Until then, the process of imagining what comes next will be just as important as the final plan.
Franklin’s campus has been shaped over nearly 25 years by the students, families, educators, alumni, and supporters who have called it home. The next chapter will be shaped with them, too.
