The Lovett School broke ground this week on a new campus centerpiece along West Paces Ferry Road, a $93 million project called Rita Anne Rollins Hall that is set to open in fall 2028 and become the connective heart of the Buckhead private school's lower, middle and upper divisions.
The 150,000-square-foot building rises on the site of the school's former community center, which opened in 1960, and is funded in large part by a $30 million gift from the Randall and Peggy Rollins family made in November 2025, according to WSB-TV. The gift is described in the station's report as the largest single donation in Lovett's history and among the largest ever given to an independent K-12 school in the United States. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported the commitment is believed to be the largest single donation ever made to a Georgia independent K-12 school, surpassing a $19 million gift The Weber School in Sandy Springs received in 2022.
A $93 Million Vision Behind the Groundbreaking
While the Rollins family gift anchored the project, campaign documentation published by The Lovett School shows Rita Anne Rollins Hall carries a total working budget goal of $93 million as part of the school's broader “One Lovett” centennial fundraising campaign, meaning substantial fundraising is still underway beyond the initial lead gift. School specifications released in January indicate the finished building will include a 600-seat chapel and assembly space along with an expanded central quad that adds an additional acre of greenspace to Lovett's campus.
The station's report describes the hall as a campus hub meant to serve worship, dining, the arts and student support all in one place. Planned features include a light-filled chapel, state-of-the-art performing arts spaces, classrooms, studios and makerspaces for expanded curricular offerings, expanded and reimagined dining spaces, and an expansive campus green linking the lower, middle and upper schools.
Design Team and Construction Timeline
Atlanta-based architecture firm Cooper Carry designed the new campus center, with IMPACT Development Management overseeing construction, according to reporting by Urbanize Atlanta. Head of School Meredyth Cole called the groundbreaking “a proud day and historic moment for The Lovett School,” per the station's account, as the building is expected to open in time for the fall 2028 semester.
The groundbreaking ceremony, held on Lovett's West Paces Ferry Road campus, supports the school's yearlong centennial celebration marking its 1926 founding by Eva Edwards Lovett. That celebration includes an original documentary film, a community-wide storytelling series, an interactive artifacts display, and a centennial gala scheduled for October 24. The school's campus spans 100 acres, per WSB-TV's report.
The Name Behind the Building
Rita Anne Rollins Hall honors Rita Anne Rollins, a member of the Class of 1972 who died in an accident in 1970 before what would have been her junior year, according to Buckhead.com. The school later awarded her a posthumous diploma with her graduating class, a gesture that ties the new building's name to a decades-old moment of grief rather than a living honoree.
The Rollins family's ties to Lovett run deep. R. Randall Rollins served on the school's Board of Trustees from 1973 to 1979, and his daughter, Amy Rollins Kreisler, currently sits on the board's executive committee, as reported by Lifestyles Magazine. The family's philanthropic capacity traces back to Rollins Inc., the Atlanta-based parent company of Orkin Pest Control co-founded by O. Wayne Rollins, which SaportaReport has noted grew into a publicly traded global corporation generating more than $2 billion in annual revenue.
Where the Project Fits in Buckhead's Private School Landscape
The new hall is being built into a private school market where tuition already runs high. Lovett's own published tuition schedule for the 2026–27 academic year lists $34,850 for grades K–5 and $41,110 for grades 6–12, with the school distributing $8 million in annual financial assistance to 289 students. The school enrolls roughly 1,640 students from kindergarten through 12th grade, according to Niche, which also reports a student-to-teacher ratio near 8:1 and average class sizes of 18 students.
Lovett's alumni network includes NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, NPR broadcaster Mary Louise Kelly and Grammy-nominated composer Tivon Pennicott, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's earlier coverage of the Rollins gift. As construction proceeds toward the planned fall 2028 opening, the new hall is intended to give those future graduates, and thousands of current students, a single shared space to gather for worship, meals, performances and everyday campus life.
