Ben Lippen School begins first phase of expansion.

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The Ben Lippen School broke ground on the first phase of $5.5 million expansion at its Monticello Road campus on Monday. The initial phase of the expansion includes a 13,000-square-foot arts and sciences center featuring eight new classrooms with specialized space for chemistry, robotics, engineering and visual arts.

The master expansion plan calls for a student activity center, a fine arts center and an expanded gymnasium. The school has raised $3.6 million of a $5.5 million capital campaign goal, according to a news release.

Ben Lippen headmaster Tony Fajardo said the school's increasing enrollment now at nearly 800 students in grades pre-K through 12 and the needs of modern students make the expansion necessary.

"We are working to provide extraordinary opportunities in an...