The Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo: Building the Future

Unbeknownst to the vast majority of Millbrook students who are not regular visitors at the zoo, the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo has been planning several large-scale expansion projects and additions within the next several years. As the zoo continues to grow in popularity amongst students and outside visitors, a project such as this has been a long time coming. Mrs. Nancy Stahl, who has overseen the project's funding, said that during her time at Millbrook, interest in the zoo has skyrocketed. In terms of admissions, she mentioned, “Many students who are applying put down the zoo now as an interest. Whereas when I was first here, it was listed less frequently as an interest.” She added that the number of members of the zoo community service has increased considerably as well, “The zoo has become a huge thing for students. Everybody wants to be involved and have a part in it. It’s taken off, and it’s a whole evolution.” 

Dr. Tousignant, director of the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo, echoed Mrs. Stahl’s comments about how the zoo's increased popularity has led to a greater need for renovation. He added, “One of the biggest pieces driving this whole thing is how can we improve the offerings for our students in all the various ways that they’re involved, be it community service, zoo squad, advanced science projects, shadowing the veterinarian, etc. All of those opportunities will be better with this new master plan.” He continued, “Another piece is that it will allow us to have a better visitor experience as the number of people who visit the zoo annually grows. The project enables us to have more conservation impact outside of Millbrook School. One of the school’s core principles is stewardship of the natural world, and the zoo is one of those places that can actually take that message and get it out into the greater community. Our main goal with visitors is not just to entertain them—it’s to have them become better stewards of the natural world as well. And when that works well, what a great success for Millbrook School.” 

The expansion of the zoo will help the zoo continue to do what it does best: teach students and enrich their learning experience while providing a valuable experience for every person who visits. A major driving force of the expansion plan is providing the best experience possible for the next generation of Millbrook students. Student curator Hector Stephenson ’26 added that, “[Learning about] conservation is important for younger generations as they often have an impact in influencing the future of animal safety.  The new expansion will be beneficial as more students will be inclined to be in the zoo and learn about the importance of what we do at this school. More animals and more enclosures mean more for students to experience and learn about.” 

Fittingly, students of all levels of commitment to the zoo have been part of the conversation on the design of the new animal wellness center and other buildings, and the head student curators were invited to trustee board meetings to discuss plans and share their input. Curator Stephenson explained that “The staff ensures that we’re kept in the loop so that we can see the process that comes with expanding an establishment like this one.” As students and student involvement are critical to the zoo's functioning, their insight and opinions are essential to the project.

In total, the full expansion plan will take well over 20 years to complete, but several aspects of the project will be visible and useful to Millbrook students within the next couple of years. One of the most notable additions will be a new animal wellness center, complete with a treatment room, surgery room, expanded holding space for animals, conference room, necropsy room, and an animal treatment room where visitors can see the vets and the work they do. The sterile surgery room is especially exciting because, according to Dr. T, in the past, whenever invasive surgery was needed, it had to be performed at another clinic. That process is time-consuming and expensive, but with a new surgery room, such procedures can be conveniently performed on campus. 

Within the conference room, zoo staff plans to bring in students before a procedure and talk them through what is happening. Student curator Ingrid Schmitt ’26 commented that the wellness center will open up a new world of opportunities to students, sharing, “Millbrook as a school will have access to so many incredible resources and hands-on opportunities, including access to behind-the-scenes work like veterinarians visiting. Instead of having to seek out opportunities, they will be encouraged. I think this will eventually attract a larger number of students who are STEM-focused and interested in animal science.” 

While the animal wellness center is part of the project that will likely be completed in the near term, various other renovations will take place. The zoo's physical area will expand by approximately five acres. Some of this new space will be used to add new exhibits, but the main goal of this expansion is to improve current exhibits. The plan also includes a new event center, and it will be surrounded by the South America exhibit, which will also be relocated and expanded. According to Dr. Tousignant, after this change, visitors will feel as though they are attending an event in the region of South America. The relocation of the South America exhibit will also allow for the substantial expansion of the Asian exhibits, including enlargements of several enclosures, most notably that of Przewalski’s horse, an animal that needs a larger space. 

As the zoo has become an increasingly popular location for educational sessions for students from surrounding schools, the new event center will be the perfect place to deliver the best possible sessions. Also in development is a new maintenance complex to replace the current one, which will allow for the expansion of the current zoo parking lot. With the significant increase in the zoo’s daily visitor numbers, a new parking lot will be extremely beneficial. Also, the Tropical Building will be converted into a new student research center, and the current commissary/veterinary exam room/marmoset enclosure will become a right-sized commissary. 

Another exciting aspect of the zoo expansion is what is called ‘bringing the back of house forward.’ Dr. Tousignant described, “For a lot of years, as zoos got better, everything became an immersive experience—you had no idea you were in a zoo, you just felt like you were out in the jungle. The modern thinking is that our visitors are much savvier now and much more interested in how the animals are actually being taken care of.” He added that the new mindset is “less Disney-esque, more show us what you’re actually doing.” So the idea is that part of the exhibit will be us actually working, and students doing their jobs as well. Visitors will be able to see what’s behind the scenes without taking a special behind-the-scenes tour. It’ll be more transparent.” 

Ingrid added that this aspect of the expansion is what she is most excited about. She mentioned, “It is such a privilege that, as high school students, we are trusted to work with all the zoo’s animals, from the endangered red panda to the otters, when most programs do not allow students in the same room as the animals they work with. I am pleased to hear that the zoo will lean into this unique quality and expand accessibility of experiential learning to the public, while providing more opportunities for Millbrook students.” 

Aside from those additions, the zoo's main framework will largely remain the same, with possible tweaks and adjustments. The main focus will be on modernizing and upgrading the existing exhibits. In addition, there are plans to add a few new and exciting animals to the zoo, such as snow leopards, Asian small-clawed otters, and capybaras. Curator Max Amsterdam ’26 commented that, “We’re going to have so many more animals that students will be able to work with. In terms of college applications and essays, it will look way better for them to say that they have worked with these animals, and it will bring so much more uniqueness to the aspect of being a high schooler working in a zoo. There will be so much more opportunity.” 

The zoo master plan holds so much promise for the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo. Not only will it provide more opportunities and resources for students, but it will also help the zoo become more engaging and appealing to a larger variety of visitors.