Bob Kramer Offers a Community Commons Update

Director of Advancement Beth Crutcher sat down with Bob Kramer, LA’s assistant head for finance and operations, to discuss his work with the Community Commons project. Bob has been with LA for eight years, and in addition to overseeing the school’s financial management and staffing several board committees, he manages the health and wellness program, buildings and grounds, communications, information technology, human resources, and food service. He lives with his wife, Rachel, in Concord, Mass.

Your work is so diverse. Primarily, you have helped ensure the school’s strong financial position, but I’m guessing managing a major building project wasn’t in the job description! In general, how has this experience been for you?

The best part of my time working at LA has been the breadth of my job and how each week brings a new set of challenges. To prepare for the Community Commons project, I’ve shifted some of my responsibilities to our CFO, Kelly Yetter, to allow me to have time for the focus that the project requires. A project of this scale brings together facilities planning, logistics, and financial planning, all while trying to minimize the impact on student experience. I’m looking forward to the work ahead as we plan for a groundbreaking in June 2025.

Can you summarize where we are with the project?

This summer we have been engaged in creating a final package of construction documents by working closely with our architects at Flansburgh, our engineering consultants at RFS, our food service consultants at Crabtree McGrath, and our owner’s project manager at C3. A team of LA folks has been engaged in reviewing the plans and making adjustments so that the design development work can become a reality. Once the construction documents are complete, we will prepare bid packages for submittal to potential construction managers in the fall and hope to choose a partner for construction in early November.

Were there any big surprises or challenges?

The work of the summer has been about the details. Landscaping plans were revised to address accessibility, building envelope plans were tweaked to ensure compliance with the latest environmental codes, the kitchen and servery layout was analyzed again with our food service provider, and temporary dining plans were formed for the 2025-2026 academic year. I wouldn’t call any of this surprising or challenging, but getting the details right is important at this stage.

The community has been so generous financially in support of the Commons. Have you also received any volunteer help?

We’ve been lucky to have an excellent team of professional advisors who have been complemented by a very dedicated group of LA employees. Beyond that, there has been significant engagement from the Board of Trustees and the committees that are focused on the project. We’ve formed a Community Commons Planning Group, which is comprised of members of our buildings and grounds team, Budget Committee, and Development Committee, to oversee the project’s progress and regularly review the project milestones. The trustees involved have extensive backgrounds in finance, construction, legal, and other areas that have been invaluable to the school.

Director of Advancement Beth Crutcher began working at Lawrence Academy in 2022. Prior to joining LA, she held leadership positions in fundraising at Vermont Academy, the American School in London, Princeton University, Princeton HealthCare System, and Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart.

Beth obtained her master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in organizational dynamics as a mid-career professional and new mother, writing her thesis on the use of positive organizational psychology in fundraising. She has spoken at many professional conferences on themes of affinity giving, stewardship and campaign strategies.

For more information about the Community Commons project, please contact Beth at 978-448-1566.