Raise The Curtain!

Lancaster Country Day is about to inaugurate a new era in the performing arts at the school by building the 580-seat Gardner Theatre.

Raise the Curtain! Capital Campaign

Our school has a history of deep affection and an esteemed reputation for the performing arts. Country Day’s strategic vision has long called for a new performance venue that would also be a gathering space for the entire school and a collaborative resource for our Lancaster-area community.

The combination of our current enrollment and the strength of our performing arts department means we have literally and figuratively outgrown the beloved, 50-year-old Steinman Theatre. The creation of Gardner Theatre marks a defining moment in our storied institution’s history.

This objective — close on the heels of the Physical Education & Athletics Center expansion — came within reach when the family of the late Eugene Gardner Sr. made a principal gift designated for the creation of a theater. Since receiving the Gardner family’s gift, generous LCDS families, alumni, and friends of Gene Gardner have come together with gifts that now total more than $10.6 million toward our $13 million goal.

Gardner Theatre will have 580 seats, an orchestra pit, state of the art lighting and acoustics, and fly space. With a full-sized stage and professional theater fittings, the new space will be able to host school musical and theatrical performances that will unleash students’ artistic potential to untold heights of creativity. Importantly, the space will welcome the student body for special assemblies, graduation, and presentations, all of which will enhance a core component of the school’s culture: inclusiveness among students of all grades, as well as faculty and staff. Gardner Theatre will share an elevator, lobby, restrooms, concessions area, and parking with the Physical Education & Athletics Center. Steinman Theatre will be retained for black box-style productions and as a much-needed rehearsal space.

Lancaster Country Day is committed to its role as a community partner and looks forward to introducing Gardner Theatre to groups throughout the region. Creative collaboration will surely be the order of the day and a further enhancement of our school’s programmatic goals. In addition, the new theater will be a prime venue to host speakers and workshops open to the public.

With your help, the Raise the Curtain! Capital Campaign will meet this goal and open the new theater in the fall of 2020.

Raise the Curtain Thank You!




School Leadership

List of 3 members.

  • Photo of Shelby LaMar

    Shelby LaMar 

    Chief Advancement Officer
    (717)397-7240
    Bio
  • Photo of Ellen Simpson '73

    Ellen Simpson '73 73

    Development Officer Emerita
    Bio
  • Photo of Corinne Topper

    Corinne Topper 

    Director of Annual Giving
    (717)397-8126
    Bio

Tribute to Gene

In July 2016, our school bade farewell to Gene Gardner, who had himself studied here before going on to be a proud parent and grandparent of LCDS students. Gene’s passing represented the loss of a thoughtful, loyal and generous champion of Lancaster Country Day School. Simply put, his significance to the school that we know and love cannot be overstated.

Gene served on the Board, including as its president, from 1970-1981. In 1972, he offered to the school an additional volunteer service: managing the LCDS Endowment Fund. Gene and his investment firm have managed this Fund for more than four decades with vision and expertise, allowing the school to thrive on a secure financial foundation.

Gene’s ultimate dream, held in common with legendary headmaster John Jarvis, was always to have a formal performing arts space big enough to hold an assembly of the entire school. He was pleased to see it included in the 2013 Board of Trustees Campus Master Plan.



    • Gene Gardner

Executive Leadership

Project Design Committee

Laurin (L.J.) Simmons Bloom ’87
E. Bradley Clark
Anne Downey Gardner ’61
Bernadette Milner Gardner ’87
Eugene H. Gardner Jr. ’84
Steven D. Lisk, Former Head of School
Douglas W. Rebert

Campaign Leadership

Laurie T. Rebert, Campaign Chair
Ann M. Fulton
John F. Fulton ’88
Judy Farmer Fulton ’61
Lisa McSparren Hatheway ’75
Anthony Spleen ’82
Shelby LaMar, Chief Advancement Officer
Steven D. Lisk, Head of School
Ellen Simpson ’73, Development Officer Emerita
Corinne Topper, Development Officer

Board of Trustees 2020-2021
J. Gary Langmuir, President
Bernadette Milner Gardner ’87, Immediate Past President
Sandra J. Wege, Treasurer
Brian J. Tate, Secretary
Angela Ang-Alhadeff
Lou Castelli
E. Bradley Clark
Virginia Eckman
Jeffrey N. Grove
Laura Sheaffer Harkin '95
Ami Landis
Andrea Wanner Miller ’87
Rebecca L. Miller
Ryan C. Miller ’01
Shaka C. Monroe
Gautam Pasupuleti
Elizabeth Martin Payne ’04, Alumni Association President
Douglas W. Rebert 
Kerma Reiss
Christopher T. Russo '01
 
Lancaster Country Day School is a preschool-12th grade, coed college preparatory school with students from Lancaster, Hershey, York and Reading.