August 17, 2016

The current home of Sabrina’s Café and Ross Commons on the corner of 34th Street and Powelton Avenue was once known as the Practice House. There, female majors of the Domestic Science and Arts Department learned homemaking skills, such as “top-down” dusting. In 1932, a nursery school opens so students can practice caring for real babies (believed to have come from a nearby orphanage). The Practice House closes from an electrical fire in 1991. It is restored in the 21st century by alumnus and former chairman of the board of trustees George Ross ’55, Hon. ’99, to be used as a dining, study and activity center.