Fulton & Korenvaes Upper School

"Greenhill is not buildings... it's people!"
 
Greenhill has seen its Upper School Building go through several transformations over the last five decades, but unlike other buildings on campus, these were never planned. In fact, it was a pair of fires that burnt the previous buildings down to the ground that jumpstarted the planning and construction of a new Upper School.
 
The original Upper School building was part of a farmhouse that also housed Greenhill's library, cafeteria and administrative offices. All of that changed on April 28, 1963, when a fire burnt the farmhouse to the ground. With the building reduced to rubble, Upper School classes resumed just 48 hours later thanks to the generosity of the congregation of Temple Emanu-El. The following fall, Greenhill's Lower School students switched with their older classmates and had their schooling at the Temple facilities while Upper School students returned to campus. It was at this point when Greenhill decided to construct their first permanent buildings on campus. Upper School students would have to wait almost 13 years before they would get their first permanent building when the Bernard Fulton Upper School Building opened in 1974.
 
However - at 2:27 a.m. on the morning of March 30, 1987, the Addison Fire Department was notified of a fire on the Greenhill campus, and when the first unit arrived just six minutes later, 90 percent of the Bernard Fulton Upper School Building had been burnt to the ground. The blaze immediately went to a second alarm followed by a third alarm that was called at 2:56 a.m. It took over two hours to put out the blaze that destroyed the second Upper School building on Greenhill's campus. The following day, Greenhill resumed classes as teachers and students set up shop in shared classrooms, corner niches in Montgomery Library as well as portable buildings arranged in a refugee village north of the football field. Greenhill's administration went to work quickly planning a new Upper School building, refusing to let the legacy of Bernard Fulton go down in flames. Amidst the wreckage, a sign of hope proclaimed: "Greenhill is not buildings... it's people!" A 10-month effort on part of the Greenhill community culminated on February 5, 1988, when the doors of the new Bernard Fulton Upper School opened for business - only 310 days after the tragic fire has decimated the former structure.
 
In the early part of the 2000s, Greenhill embarked on the "Great Expectations Campaign" and as part of the campaign, a second Upper School building was designed. The Korenvaes Upper School Building opened its door in 2005 and a courtyard connected Greenhill's newest addition with the Bernard Fulton Upper School Building. The Bernard Fulton Upper School Building comprises the math and languages department as well as service learning, learning specialists, a large Lecture Hall and newly-renovated Robotics Lab. The Korenvaes Upper School Building currently houses the Upper School leadership along with history and English departments as well as the College Counseling offices.
The aftermath of the fire that destroyed the old Upper School in March 1987.
One of the newest additions to the Upper School is the Robotics Lab.

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