On Saturday, October 22 members of the MKA community came together to commemorate the Grand Opening of the Middle School Fields Complex and celebrate with an official ribbon cutting. During the beautiful morning ceremony, several speakers acknowledged the hard work, dedication, and generosity of so many.

Coaches, faculty, administrators, and staff, including Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Davison, Director Of Physical Plant and Security James Castelli, Head of Upper School Dr. David C. Flocco, and Director of Athletics Todd Smith, were instrumental in moving the project to completion, which would not have been possible without the significant contributions made by PAMKA, alumni, families, and friends of the school.

Head of School Nigel D. Furlonge said, “This commemoration represents years of focus, commitment, and planning dating back to 2017. Thanks to [former Head of School] Tom Nammack’s leadership, the dedication of the Board of Trustees, the vision of the school’s strategic planning committee, and support from each donor, this dream has become a reality. I am honored to witness the culmination of what is possible at MKA when our vision, commitment, leadership, and philanthropy all come together in service to the thousands of children that will benefit from this incredible generosity.”

The state-of-the-art facility allows for flexibility so that different sports can use the fields throughout the year. It includes redesigned softball and baseball fields, the newly named Barrett Field, as well as two multi-use fields for soccer, football, lacrosse, and field hockey. Both softball and baseball teams have brand new dugouts, two of which have been dedicated to Varsity Baseball Coach Ralph Pacifico. In addition, there is beautiful new landscaping surrounding the perimeter of the new space. As the ceremony concluded, Dr. Carlaina Bell, Head of Middle School, invited Nigel Furlonge, Todd Smith, and the Barrett Family to join her in cutting the ribbon.

The Middle School Fields Complex has been called a game changer for fall and spring sports. For years, the shared space had not fully accommodated our athletes, especially softball and baseball players. The ability for multiple teams to practice and play games simultaneously is now a reality. But just as importantly, the reimagined and redesigned outdoor spaces have significantly enhanced the school’s flexibility for how the Middle School does recess, class meetings, lunch, social gatherings, or just allows kids to be kids. To view more photos of the event, please visit mka.org/photogalleries.

Several tree-naming opportunities are still available at the Complex. Visit www.mka.org/mkaactive to learn more. Contact Laela Perkins at 973-509-4528 or lperkins@mka.org with any questions.

Thank you to all of the generous donors and volunteers for making this project a success:

Lisa and Andrew Abramson ’71

Linda and Saurabh Agarwal ’92

Kimberly and Edwin Amirata ’82

Barbara and Val Azzoli

Priya and Naveen Ballem ’90 M.D., F.A.C.S.

Jennifer and Vikki Barbetta

Anya Buenger Barrett ’89 and John C. Barrett

Matilda Baye-Akaho and Wisdom Akaho

Morgan Bellapianta ’99 and

Chris Bellapianta ’97  

Heather and Vincent Benjamin

Gretchen Berra

Manika Sood and Prashant Bhatia

Tammy and Michael Blau

Sheri and Ted Bronstein

Kirsten and Christopher Brown

Elizabeth Byrne and Niall Mullane

Bonnie and Michael Carter

James Castelli

Cara and Dan Cesareo

Katie and Michael Cocco

Leigh and Patrick J. Conforti

Jade Harris and Michael Copeland

Deanna and Sean Critchley

Kathryn and Edwin Davison

Risa Barash-DiLorenzo and Robert DiLorenzo

Amy Weppner and Irakli Endeladze

Sybil Eng and Tad Roselund

Lauren and Jason Fass

Breena and Jed A. Fishback

David C. Flocco

Kelly Fritz ’93 and Ed Fritz

Beth and Michael Fuchs

Nicole and Nigel Furlonge

Deborah Gordon and Benjamin Goodrich

Liza and Keith Helwig

Frank J. Herrmann ’02

Melinda Hoffman

Lynda and Larry Hollander

Alison and Eric Jacobowitz

Janice and Jeffrey Jacobson

Mary and Joel Jeffrey

Ann and Thomas S. Johnson

Tina Jordan and Kevin Rendino

Jon and Rebecca Kelly

Madison Kilduff

Randy Kleinman

Rob Leather

Gisela and Ben Limberg

Kate Logan and Edmund Rung

Yang Lou and Zhenyu Jia

Leslie Meek-Wohl and Ethan Wohl

Kerry and Paul Murphy

Zandi and Thomas Nammack

Traci Otey Blunt and Jonathan Blunt

Deborah and Michael I. Otner

Amy and Ralph Pacifico

Joseph and Susan Pannullo

Bidyut and Reena Pramanik

Valerie and Wesley Puryear

Simran and Sanjiv Rajani

Joseph and John Randolph

Katherine and Robert Ruberton

Samantha and Ryan Schinman ’89

Jack Cappitelli and Robin Schwartz ’85

Rebecca and John Scuorzo

Alison Slone and Adam Miller

Jessica Sarfati

Leon Shade

Ken Smith

Todd Smith

Jennie and JT Sowers

Latisse M. Mays-Stovall and James K. Stovall

Ami and Andrew M. Talkow

Deborah and Thomas Turvey

Teanna and Jack Tycher

Silvia Henriquez and Luis Villafana

Margaret and Richard Wager

Alyson Waldman ’99 and Matt Waldman ’98

David Crossen and Helen Walter Crossen ’95

Suzanne and Mark Weinberg

Donna and Joseph Wilson