As ISD 196 began design for the newest elementary in the past 20 years, it needed to be cognizant of equity with other schools, while at the same time, meeting challenges of today’s educational needs.
The school is arranged around a centralized, open-concept media center that serves as a collaboration space for all. This was a core design element of previous elementary schools in the district, along with classrooms arranged in clusters that opened to the media.
The new school deviates slightly from the approach of the past in designing each cluster of classrooms as individual learning communities comprised of five classrooms around a flexible learning area, with a variety of small group collaboration areas throughout the building. The design also includes a dedicated preschool to enhance the district’s approach to including pre-k as part of the elementary experience.