SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. -- Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School’s state-of-the-art Math, Science and Commons Building was formally opened on Aug. 21.

Friday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony was more than the dedication of a new high-tech STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) building, however, said Board of Trustees Chair Bruce Ford. “I see much more than brick, stone and mortar. The development of this new building is a beginning that serves to ask, ‘What’s next, what now, and what else?’”

The Rev. Michael Sullivan, rector of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church, said the new building was also the newest symbol of Holy Innocents’ “deep and abiding responsibility to care for children.”

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. -- Seniors and kindergartners at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School began their journey through the 2015-2016 school year together Tuesday morning, Aug. 18, with an inaugural Senior/Kindergarten Tie Ceremony in the courtyard of the new Math, Science & Commons Building.

Head of School Paul Barton spoke briefly at the beginning of the ceremony, reminding students that classes across campus are enriched by each other. He thanked kindergartners, for example, for inspiring HIES with “their sense of wonder and curiosity,” and seniors for “the generous way you share your talents with all of us,” and for their leadership in the year to come.

“Today is a right of passage, the beginning of a journey,” he said.

Rachel McGovern, a member of the Class of 2015 at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School (HIES), has been given a national Woman of Impact award by Off the Field, a national, nonprofit organization made up of NFL wives. The charitable group, which held its national conference in Atlanta April 23–26, recognized McGovern for her dedicated service with Girl Talk, an international mentoring program in which high school girls help middle school girls build self-esteem, develop leadership skills, and value community service.

The graduating senior has been a member of the national Girl Talk board for three years, a leader for the Holy Innocents’ chapter of Girl Talk, and a counselor at the Girl Talk summer camp, Project Inside Out. She will be the camp’s co-director in June.