Category: Academic
SCHRADERGROUP Sponsors and Attends the 22nd Annual MCIUEF Golf Classic
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) attended the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit Education Foundation (MCIUEF)’s twenty-second annual Golf Classic hosted at the Brookside Country Club in Pottstown, PA on May 9th. The event raised funds to enhance and support educational opportunities for the students of Montgomery County, PA.
SG was proud to be a sponsor for this event. SG team members Harry Pettoni and Devin Bradbury represented SG at the outing that included some well-known faces of the Intermediate Unit.
The MCIUEF celebrated its 22nd year of providing camp and post-secondary scholarships for students with special needs, enriching classroom programs with technology support, and enabling student programs beyond school district budget capabilities. This includes more than $550,000 in grants and scholarships awarded over the last 22 years.
Events like these are important to the success of a community and its students, as it allows the MCIUEF to support programs that continue to attract nearly 7,000 students each year. SG would like to thank the dedicated members of the foundation for organizing this fun event.
Learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s work with Montgomery County Intermediate Unit and other School Districts in the region here.
Learn more about the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit Education Foundation here.
Hatboro-Horsham School District’s Crooked Billet Elementary School Recognized as an Outstanding Project in Learning By Design’s Spring 2022 Issue
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is proud to announce that our recently completed project, the Hatboro-Horsham School District’s Crooked Billet Elementary School, has been recognized as an Outstanding Project in Learning By Design’s Spring 2022 Educational Facilities Design Awards Showcase issue. We are very excited to have another SG project recognized as an award-winning facility for its incorporation of next generation learning space design and planning methodologies.
Each year, Learning By Design showcases the very best in the educational design and construction market. Educational facilities are judged on the basis of innovation, community needs, interior design, sustainability, functional design, and next generation learning. The award-winning magazine is published three times a year and regularly recognizes the nation’s top K-12 and higher education projects and architecture firms.
“A project that allows for a range of activities attached to the homerooms and support developing a routine of collaboration and individual work as customary practice. Corridor positioning and pauses along the way exponentially support the potential of an agile community,” said one of the jurors for the panel about Crooked Billet Elementary School.
This replacement school on a Revolutionary War battlefield site offered opportunities to reshape the delivery of education through design that couldn’t be afforded through a 1950’s facility. The new PreK-5 Elementary School is designed for 650 students to accommodate enrollments and to consolidate schools. Incorporating the history of the Battle of Crooked Billet as part of a 21st Century learning environment provided a unique opportunity to integrate the old with the new. An exterior monument at the main entry and a two-story rotunda lobby commemorates the history of the region, the battle, and the school. The rotunda is centrally located between the curricular areas for STEAM programs, including a STEAM classroom, media center, TV studio and art classroom. This central core of the building also serves as the transitional area between the public spaces (gymnasium and cafeteria), and the academic two-story classroom wing. To enhance the delivery of instruction, grade level classrooms are clustered around a large-group instruction area. Each classroom has direct access to a small-group instruction room which can either be shared by another classroom or divided into two by a movable partition. This provides a unique opportunity to pull students for individual or small group instruction in a controlled environment, or for larger group activities in the large group instruction commons, without leaving the grade level cluster.
With an industrial complex and SEPTA rail line on one side, a residential neighborhood in front of the school, and a creek and wooded area to the other side and around the back, the orientation and placement of the building on the site was important to the design. The larger public spaces act as a noise and aesthetic buffer to the industrial area, and the two-story classroom wing on the opposite side of the building takes advantage of the views of the green space down to the creek. Adequate parking is provided in front which also serves as the parent drop-off lane pulling cars off the roadway and onto the site. A separate bus loop and drop-off area alongside the gym/cafeteria separates bus and vehicular circulation on-site.
You can view the Spring 2022 issue of Learning By Design here. You can find Crooked Billet entry on page 51!
If you’d like to learn even more about the Crooked Billet Elementary School, click here.
SG is proud to have partnered with Hatboro-Horsham School District. Learn more about this amazing school district here.
We have thoroughly enjoyed working with the Hatboro-Horsham School District (HHSD) and are honored to have this wonderful facility featured in this issue. In addition to the successful completion of Crooked Billet, SG is currently working with the school district on a new replacement facility for Keith Valley Middle School. Stay tuned for more news on this exciting project as well!
SCHRADERGROUP Attends A4LE Northeast’s 2022 Annual Regional Conference
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) recently attended the annual Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) 2022 Northeast Region Conference from April 6th to the 9th in Washington, D.C.
The conference was held at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill and was attended by SG Managing Partner David Schrader, Principal Harry Pettoni, Associate Danielle Hoffer, Interior Designer Charlotte Stoudt, and Project Architect Christopher Farmer.
In addition to our firm’s presence at this great event, SG’s own David Schrader and Danie Hoffer presented a special session along with the School District of Springfield Township’s (SDST) Director of Student Affairs, Dr. Catherine Van Vooren.
The session, titled “Enhanced Critical Thinking – For 5 Year Olds?” profiled how SDST and the community worked together to inspire the design of a new K-2 early learning center: the Enfield Elementary School located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The session dove into how SG’s community-based workshop process and the resulting school design promotes critical thinking, student movement, collaboration, socialization, and communication through the principles of project-based learning for these very young and influential minds.
The theme for this year’s conference was “Blossoming Minds… A Time for Renewal and Optimism.” The event gathered school facility managers, architects, educators, school planners, engineers, and maintenance and industry experts to share in new conversations about the need for adapting our learning environments to new levels of mindfulness, as well as personalized comfort found in equality, inclusion, and the community. The conference focused on a strong understanding of the student experience and how designing with empathy allows for school planning to be driven by a focus on the future of learning, while still supporting capital needs, growth, and other logistical considerations of school systems.
The SG team would like to thank the dedicated staff of A4LE for organizing this great event and to all who attended our session, and we look forward to attending another A4LE conference very soon!
The Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) is a professional non-profit association dedicated to improving the places where children learn. The A4LE Northeast Region consists of Chapters that service the Northeast Region of the United States as well as nearby Canadian Provinces. To learn more about the A4LE Northeast Region, please click here.
To learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s commitment to design for education, please click here.
T&M Associates Infrastructure Case Study Highlights Manavon Elementary School and Phoenixville Area Early Learning Center
T&M Associates, one of SCHRADERGROUP’s go-to consultants for Site and Civil Engineering, recently published an article dealing with how enhanced erosion and sediment control leads to resilient infrastructure.
This informative article uses a SCHRADERGROUP and T&M Associates project favorite, the Phoenixville Area School District’s (PASD) Manavon Elementary School and Phoenixville Area Early Learning Center as a case study for during- and post-construction erosion controls.
Interested in learning more? You can read the full article by clicking here.
Want to learn more about PASD’s Manavon Elementary and Phoenixville Area Early Learning Center? Click here.
SCHRADERGROUP to Speak at A4LE’s Northeast Conference!
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is thrilled to announce that the team will be presenting at this year’s A4LE Northeast 2022 Annual Regional Conference! SG Managing Partner David Schrader and Associate Danie Hoffer will be presenting alongside the School District of Springfield Township (SDST) Director of Student Services, Dr. Catherine Van Vooren.
Please join us on April 7th at 10am at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill in Washington DC to hear this exciting session and to say hello!
The session, “Enhanced Critical Thinking – For 5 Year Olds?”, will profile how a community and school district worked together to inspire the design of a new K-2 early learning center: the Enfield Elementary School located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The session will delve into how the community-based workshop process and the resulting school design promotes critical thinking, student movement, collaboration, socialization, and communication through the principals of project-based learning for these very young and influential minds.
The overarching theme of this year’s conference, “Blossoming Minds… A Time for Renewal and Optimism,” will gather school facility managers, architects, educators, school planners, engineers, and maintenance and industry experts to share new conversations in the need for adapting our learning environments to new levels of mindfulness, as well as personalized comfort found in equality, inclusion, and the community. The conference will focus on a strong understanding of the student experience and how designing with empathy allows for school planning to be driven by a focus on the future of learning, while still supporting capital needs, growth, and other logistical considerations of school systems. The conference will run from April 6th to April 9th.
The Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) is a professional non-profit association dedicated to improving the places where children learn. The A4LE Northeast Region consists of Chapters that service the Northeast Region of the United States as well as nearby Canadian Provinces. To learn more about A4LE’s Northeast 2022 Annual Regional Conference and to register for this great event, please click here.
To learn more about SG’s speaking session with the SDST at the A4LE Northeast 2022 Annual Regional Conference, please click here.
To learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s commitment to design for education, please click here.
SCHRADERGROUP Principal Named President of A4LE’s Chesapeake Bay/Delaware Valley Chapter
SCHRADERGROUP is pleased to announce that the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) has named SG Principal Harry Pettoni as President of the Chesapeake Bay/Delaware Valley Chapter. As president, Harry will lead the chapter that encompasses a portion of the Middle Atlantic surrounding the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Valley, including the areas of Washington D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. His duties will include presiding over all board meetings, directing activities of the chapter, appointing committees to conduct chapter business, and attending regional and international conferences. Harry will be serving for a three-year term. Congratulation Harry!
The Chesapeake Bay/Delaware Valley Chapter is a non-profit organization made up of individuals whose professional activities involve a responsibility of planning, designing, constructing, equipping, administering, and/or maintaining the physical environment of education. The chapter seeks to further the goals of education by providing services, activities, and knowledge related to the development of superior educational facilities. The purpose of this chapter is to assist A4LE and the region implement their programs, to serve as a vehicle for the local activities of A4LE, and to provide a forum for members of the chapter to meet and discuss matters of common interest and concern.
As an active member of A4LE since 1999 and a member of the Chesapeake Bay/Delaware Valley Chapter since its inception in 2013, Harry has been a long standing and active member of the organization. He served as the Northeast Region’s Secretary/Treasurer for four years prior to the formation of the Chesapeake Bay/Delaware Valley Chapter and has been involved in several committees and conference planning events throughout the region.
Harry’s goals as Chapter President includes collaborating with K-12 administrators, educators, and industry partners to provide educational planning opportunities and awareness that best serves the needs of students and the community within the chapter and region. He hopes to provide leadership, support, and resources for the implementation of anti-bias and anti-racist policies, practices, and behaviors in the planning of our educational institutions.
To learn more about the Chesapeake Bay/Delaware Valley Chapter of A4LE, click here.
To learn more about SG and the work that we do supporting academic facilities in the Northeast Region, click here.
SCHRADERGROUP, Lavallee Brensinger Architects, and the Community College of Philadelphia to speak at this year’s SCUP Conference!
Please join us this week for a special speaking session at SCUP’s Mid-Atlantic Conference in Charlottesville, Virginia!
SCHRADERGROUP Managing Partner David Schrader will take the stage with Lavallee Brensinger Architects’ Sean Landry and the Community College of Philadelphia’s John Wiggins at SCUP’s Mid-Atlantic Conference this Thursday, March 10th at 10:20am. The presentation will dive into the Community College of Philadelphia’s new Career and Advanced Technology Center. We will be discussing the increasing societal needs of career and technical education and how it benefits the community using CCP’s new facility as a case study.
For more information about the presentation, please click here.
We hope to see you there!
SCHRADERGROUP to Speak at PASBO’s 2022 Annual Conference!
We are excited to announce that the SCHRADERGROUP (SG) team will be speaking and exhibiting at this year’s 67th PASBO Annual Conference & Exhibits in Hershey, PA from March 8th to the 11th in the Hershey Lodge. Stop by Booth 410 this year to say hello and meet the team!
SG is thrilled to attend this great event in person after last year’s conference was held virtually. We are even more excited to announce that the SG team will be partnering with previous clients and consultants to bring you a special panel this year: “SCHOOL OF THE FUTURE: The Next Generation of Safety and Security, HVAC and Virus Mitigation.” This panel discussion will be on Wednesday, March 9th from 10:45am – 11:45am. We hope to see you there!
“School districts are continually advancing the level of internal transparency and are including more unique and dynamic learning environments as they seek to adjust to changing learning styles and the increased use of technology. Solutions required to respond to the recent pandemic have only exacerbated the challenges of delivering a higher caliber of education to the learner. In response to these issues, school districts have had to evolve their thinking in terms of; safety, security, HVAC and virus mitigation.
Historic threats to schools have created the need to implement safety and security protocol and systems but now, for the first time in 100 years, we have encountered a health pandemic which became another threat to our students, faculty, staff, and community. These compounded concerns create dynamic needs for school districts. Threat assessments, emergency planning and ultimately implementation of protocols are critical to procedures going forward. But further, those threats have modified the systems in buildings. It is critical that these become an underlying part of our process and systems so that all members of society can enjoy learning and community-based activities without actively feeling those threats.
This panel is intended to discuss and debate these topics and to reveal some of the next generation thinking relative to these topics.”
More information on this special panel, as well as information about attending the conference, can be found here.
The Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) is a statewide association with 3,000 members. They are devoted to providing their supporters with education, training, professional development, and timely access to legislative and policy news. Their membership base covers school professionals working in finance, accounting, operations, facilities, transportation, food service, technology, communications, human resources, purchasing, and safety services. While diverse in areas of specialty, all members share a common goal – to support classroom learning in schools during good and bad economic times through smart business practices. PASBO helps make that goal a reality.
Each year, PASBO provides an opportunity for school business officials to listen to keynote speaker presentations and attend information workshops that provide members with the opportunity to network with their peers. PASBO provides its members with the education, training, and professional development, as well as the timely access to legislative and policy news, needed to support this goal of developing and supporting leaders in school business operations.
Learn more about registering for the PASBO conference here.
School District of Springfield Township’s Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center Recognized as Outstanding Project in American School & University’s Fall Architectural Portfolio
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is proud to announce that our recent project, the School District of Springfield Township’s Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center, has received an Outstanding Project Award from American School & University for their Fall 2021 Architectural Portfolio.
This is the second recognition Enfield has received from American School & University this year, after the cafeteria was previously awarded an Outstanding Project Award for the Educational Interiors Showcase. SG is excited to have another project featured in this prestigious magazine. We have thoroughly enjoyed working with the School District of Springfield Township (SDST) and are honored to have this wonderful facility featured in this issue.
American School and University (AS&U) is a magazine dedicated to the planning, design, construction, retrofit, operations, maintenance, and management of education facilities. It is intended to showcase the latest trends, technologies and strategies that are driving educational facilities and the market.
AS&U honors educational design projects each year through multiple design competitions. One of these competitions is the Architectural Portfolio, the premier showcase celebrating the best in education design. SG is honored to have this school featured in this showcase once again.
Faced with an aging K-1 primary center and a 2-5 elementary center at capacity, the School District of Springfield Township addressed both issues with the design of a new 750 student K-2 Early Learning Center.
The design establishes a hierarchy of the public and private zones. The main entrance adjacent to the administration area anchors the interior street connection to give public access to the gymnasium/stage and cafeteria for after school community events. The street connection leads to the central core of the building, featuring the learning resource/STE(A)M programs and learning stair. The school’s educational areas can be secured to allow the public areas to be used after school hours.
Each grade level wing radiates from the central STEAM core and is designed to create smaller learning communities. Each grade grouping is by floor level with supporting small and large group instruction areas to support a variety of learning environments. The central large group instruction area for that grade level supports collaborative activities. Every two classrooms share a small group instruction room facilitating individualized instruction.
You can view our entry in the Fall 2021 Architectural Portfolio issue of American School & University here.
Learn more about the Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center here.
SG is proud to have partnered with Springfield Township School District. Learn more about this amazing school district here.
