Unification Recap: An Eventful Spring for Seven Hills’ Future
June 2, 2025
The second half of the 2024-25 school year was filled with numerous announcements as Seven Hills gets closer to unifying as one community on one campus. A new location and name for the new Lower School was selected, the Doherty Campus will continue its long legacy as a beacon for education in East Walnut Hills, and more.
Doherty Campus sold to Springer School and Center
In May, Seven Hills sold the Doherty Campus to the Springer School and Center. Once Seven Hills is fully unified on the Hillsdale Campus, the Doherty Campus will become the home of Springer School and Center’s expanding high school program.
“This partnership marks an important step forward for Seven Hills and Springer alike, helping each institution to build its future and to better live out its mission,” Bolton said.
Over the next two years, Seven Hills and Springer will have many opportunities to celebrate the decision and pass the torch to the new group of students.
“The students at Springer’s High School have been experiencing a world-class education. With this purchase, our students will have a campus to match,” Springer President Brett Marcoux said.
North End of Campus Dedicated to Lower School Education
To create a “campus within a campus” feel for the Doherty Lotspeich Lower School, it will be located at the green and wooded north end of the Hillsdale Campus. Set against the backdrop of a grove of 300-year-old oak trees, the building will feature classrooms, specials rooms for classes such as science, Spanish, and the arts, a library, a cafeteria, common spaces, and more. The new site will also help alleviate traffic on the Hillsdale Campus and make it easier for parents to walk their children into the Lower School in the morning.
Students and Teachers Will Remain at Respective Campuses Until 2027-28
With the relocation of the new Lower School building, students and teachers will remain in their respective buildings until the 2027-28 school year. This means that there is no longer a need for students and teachers to temporarily relocate while the new building is under construction.
Construction on ECC Addition Begins, Lower School Designs Underway
On June 2, the school broke ground on the Early Childhood Center addition. When the ECC was originally built, it was designed for an expansion; therefore, pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes will resume as normal during the 2025-25 school year. The expansion is slated to be open by the 2026-27 school year.
Doherty and Lotspeich students built their dream classrooms with SHP Architects
Architects from SHP met with teachers, students, and parents during the first half of 2025 to receive input for the new Doherty Lotspeich Lower School design. Groups of teachers and administrators also traveled to peer early childhood and elementary school programs across the Midwest and the East Coast for further inspiration. The new Lower School is scheduled to open at the start of the 2027-28 school year.
