Innovation Hub

A Progressive Facility for Creative Thinking, Real-World Applications, and Community Collaboration

Northwood School’s commitment to excellence in academic programming now extends into a progressive 9,000 + square-foot facility in downtown Lake Placid. The flexible, open classroom and event space is a center for real-world application, creative thinking and community collaboration, providing a hub for modern day learning.

“Much in the same way that the Lake Placid Center for the Arts is bridging the educational gap for local youth in the arts, this facility will help young people and residents of the community develop the knowledge and skills that will help them succeed in their intellectual and professional pursuits.”

Michael Maher, Head of School

Igniting the Intellectual Pursuits of Boarding School Students

At Northwood, we believe in the benefits of place-based learning, and as an extension of that commitment, the central function of the Innovation Hub’s mission is to promote collaboration, engagement and partnerships, capitalizing on the shared knowledge, innovation and creativity within our community.

The Innovation Hub at Northwood School offers auxiliary programs including after-school, weekend, summer, guest lectures and professional development to ignite the intellectual, cultural, and professional pursuits of our boarding school students.

Preparing Boarding School Students for the Future

As an extension of Northwood’s main campus, the Innovation Hub at Northwood School provides the space, tools, and academic curriculum to hone the modern world knowledge and experience that the country’s top colleges and employers value most. With the addition of this space to the Northwood School experience, our graduates will be better empowered to confidently lead lives of consequence.

Learning at the Innovation Hub in Lake Placid, NY

Programs like Robotics, Innovation & Design, Entrepreneurial Studies and LEAP (Learn, Engage, Apply, Perform) allow Northwood School to offer an interdisciplinary approach to education that emphasizes active learning, making, and risk-taking and challenges students to become resilient, independent thinkers.

The interdisciplinary approach means that students don’t learn about one subject at a time in a silo. Instead, they look at a topic through the multiple lenses of history, science, literature, and more. Reflective of the academic shifts of many universities as well as the demands of the modern workplace, interdisciplinary learning provides students with more in-depth perspectives on a variety of topics and helps them develop critical thinking skills.

Exploring and Collaborating in the Makerspace

The Innovation Hub also hosts a “makerspace” where students can experiment, take risks, and explore their ideas in hands-on ways. This innovative approach to learning gives students permission to trust themselves and their own compass in relation to self-directed and collaborative learning.

In the last decade makerspaces have exploded across the country, and we are excited to provide our students with the tools and resources that they may not otherwise be able to access outside of a professional laboratory setting. Engaging with other students, local citizens, alumni, and scientists in the makerspace provides a variety of benefits including:

Learning how to innovate
Solving complex problems in hands-on ways
Taking classroom concepts off the page and turning them into real-world applications
Embracing “failure” as a critical and necessary part of the learning process
Creating resiliency
Exposing students to new ideas
Letting students work with high-tech machinery, tools, and science professionals
Building critical thinking and problem-solving skills
Future-proofing students by enhancing skills such as flexibility, collaboration, adaptability, leadership, and initiative

Supporting the Innovation Hub at Northwood School

The $2.5 million funding for this transformational project has been provided by key early philanthropic support from Northwood school alumni, families and friends. This financial commitment to the development of the Innovation Hub at Northwood School exemplifies the sustained support from our generous donors of our mission to provide diverse academic offerings in top-notch facilities.

With the visible Main St. facility, Northwood alumni will feel increased pride in their school and enjoy the opportunity to connect with current students through alumni-supported programming and collaboration in this new location.

For more information on how you can support this initiative, please visit the Northwood Giving page or contact our Associate Director of Development Stephanie Gates at (518) 523-3357.

Learn More About Innovative Educational Opportunities at Our World-Class Boarding School

One of the key advantages of an experience at Northwood School is the platform to achieve excellence in both sport and academics in a supported environment with the added benefit of experiencing enhanced academics at the Innovation Hub at Northwood School.

To learn more about the Northwood School experience in general or the Innovation Hub in particular, please contact us today. We are eager to welcome curious, independent-minded scholars, budding scientists, artists, and athletes to our close-knit community.