International School breaks ground on new building

INDIANAPOLIS (Inside INdiana Business) — The International School of Indiana has broken ground on a new, $13.5 million school building. The Chen Family Lower School project is the result of a year-long capital campaign to create a single, unified campus on the northwest side of Indianapolis.

When complete, the school will serve ISI students from age three through fifth grade. It will be located near ISI’s existing middle and high schools.

“The groundbreaking of the Chen Family Lower School is the realization of a 25-plus year dream to bring all of our buildings and students together, as ONE ISI, on a single campus,” Elizabeth Head, head of school for ISI, said in a news release. “The collaboration this will foster among faculty, students, and our families will be invaluable, but a unified campus is a benefit to the entire region, creating a stronger institution that better supports a more globally-minded Central Indiana.”

The school launched the public portion of its ONE ISI campaign in September 2019 in an effort to raise $7 million in order to break ground, a goal that has been surpassed. The Lower School is being named in honor of Stanley and Allison Chen, who provided the $1.5 million lead gift for the project.

“Our family is extremely proud to be a part of this campaign and to share in helping secure the future of ISI, but realizing the dream and breaking ground to unify our campuses was truly a community effort,” says Stanley Chen. “The way our community rallied together is the embodiment of why we chose to support ONE ISI; this school is a special place and our gift to the campaign is an acknowledgment of this feeling.”

The new school building is expected to open at the start of the 2022-2023 academic year.