San Domenico School seeks athletic field expansion

San Domenico School in Sleepy Hollow has filed an application with the county to expand one of its two athletic fields to regulation size.

The expansion, tentatively targeted for completion in the 2024-25 school year, will allow the school to hold baseball, softball and soccer games. Lacrosse also may be added later, said Mark Churchill, the school’s athletic director and varsity track and field coach.

“Extending the field will allow us to have two fields we can use for practice and games,” Churchill said. “And we won’t have to travel every day for games, like we do now.”

The school’s athletic fields are non-regulation size and only used for practice, physical education classes or sports such as flag football, he said.

Even when they have a home game, the school’s teams have to travel to rented field space that is regulation size at College of Marin in Kentfield or at Albert Park in San Rafael, he said.

The expansion also will include the addition of artificial turf. No lights, public address systems or other obtrusive items will be added, said Nick Vidinsky, San Domenico’s communications director.

“We will leave the trees intact at the front,” Vidinsky said. “You won’t even be able to see the field from Butterfield Avenue.”

The new field would be the first major athletic facility upgrade at the 515-acre school campus since the construction of a new competition-level swimming pool and aquatic center in March 2022.

Funding for the new field will come from a “combination of fundraising and debt,” Vidinsky said.

“We don’t have a cost figure yet, as we have not yet received a construction bid,” he said.

San Domenico, a private K-12 school, is part of the Bay Counties League, which also includes Marin Academy in San Rafael, Churchill said. San Domenico also plays non-league games against public and private high school teams.

Vidinsky said the school sent area neighbors a letter in February saying that the school was submitting an application to county planners. He said he has received several positive responses from neighbors, saying they appreciated the notice.

The school has also met with neighbors along the private drive adjacent to the school. They are also “on board,” according to Vidinsky.

“We’d love to figure out how to make the field available to neighbors, when it is not in use for athletics,” Vidinsky said.

In the past week, county officials have posted a notice on a sign at the school that a planning application was submitted, Vidinsky said. He said the school was waiting to hear back from the county before seeking construction bids.

“The project location is approved as part of our 1998 master plan,” Vidinsky said. “Because the final designs include the need for a retaining wall between the campus drive and the field below, we are waiting on planning approval from the county before moving forward.”

San Domenico’s enrollment is 680, Vidinsky said. Of those, 140 high schoolers are boarding students from out of state or out of the country.

Tuition for the day students will rise 4% for 2024-25 to a range of $44,000 to $62,000 annually, depending on the grade level. Boarding student fees were set to go up 3% in 2024-25. The school’s website lists the 2023-24 boarding school tuition from $1,000 to a maximum of $78,650 annually.

The school also be granting about $9.6 million in financial aid for 2024-25, Vidinsky said. According to the website, 34% of San Domenico families pay below the top level of tuition.