La Jolla Country Day School opened a three-story building on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Students and staff walked into the Hub for Human Impact after a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the school's 24-acre campus at 9490 Genesee Ave.

The 20,000-square-foot facility is the largest project of the private school's centennial year. It pulls the Design and Innovation program into one place after classes had been scattered across an old technology lab, a yearbook room and a converted parent lounge, first reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

"Now, (for) the kindergarteners, instead of an eight-minute walk, are a 30-second walk away from the 12th graders, which I think is really exciting," Dan Lenzen, director of the Design and Innovation program, said at the ribbon cutting.

The Hub houses upper- and lower-school Design and Innovation classrooms, a multipurpose room, offices, student gathering areas and the Balmer Terrace. The terrace overlooks the University City area and is named after school founder Louise Balmer. An enclosed bridge connecting the building's two wings doubles as seating space.

Beyond Design and Innovation, the building hosts programs in Global Education, Media Literacy, Service Learning, Belonging, and Citizenship, according to the school's Hub website. The Hub builds on the school's most recent prior capital project, the Jacobs Family Library and Administration building.

Head of School Dr. Jeff Terwin, who succeeded Gary Krahn in 2024, thanked more than 600 donors during his ribbon-cutting remarks. He paraphrased the school's founding mission, saying he was certain founder Louise Balmer "would absolutely love this place" because the Hub will help students "have an impact." The school's board of trustees began master planning for the project in 2019, Terwin said.

Chief Operations Officer Kevin Worth, who led the project, said construction started in May 2025 and lasted 15 months. The build finished 10 days ahead of schedule and under budget.

No total project cost has been disclosed.

The opening caps a centennial year that included an alumni weekend Aug. 28–29 drawing nearly 450 graduates back to campus. Balmer founded the school in 1926 as The Balmer School, a kindergarten-through-second-grade program. It was rechartered as La Jolla Country Day School in 1955 and moved to its current Genesee Avenue site the same year. The campus now serves about 1,100 students.