Tag: 21st century learning

Springfield School District’s New Springfield High School is Complete!

The SCHRADERGROUP (SG) team, in association with our design partner Perkins&Will of Chicago, is happy to announce that Springfield School District’s new Springfield High School is now complete!

2-Learning-Stair_SCHRADERGROUP_Springfield_School_District_High_School_Perkins&WillPhoto courtesy of Todd Mason from Halkin | Mason Photography.

Constructed on the southeast corner of the existing high school’s campus, the goal of the new facility is to provide the school district with a complex that will serve the community for the next 50 years. Perkins&Will and SG provided programming, planning and design services for the new high school complex that encompasses 230,000 SF on a 25-acre campus. The school will immediately serve over 1,450 students.

3-Aerial-2_SCHRADERGROUP_Springfield_School_District_High_School_Perkins&WillPhoto courtesy of Todd Mason from Halkin | Mason Photography.

Consistent with the SG mission of creating next generation learning environments, the new high school employs an Academy Model that provides offerings in Art, Business, STE(A)M (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), Humanities and Liberal Arts. The new facility includes an interior courtyard for outdoor learning as well as for gathering and common space. Unique to the facility is its inclusion of the District Administration within the structure of the facility.

4-Courtyard_SCHRADERGROUP_Springfield_School_District_High_School_Perkins&WillPhoto courtesy of Todd Mason from Halkin | Mason Photography.

Beyond the high school and District Administration, the project includes the design and construction of new site amenities, including the athletic fields, parking, and a stadium complex. Next up, SG will be engaged in the demolition of the existing high school, which will then lead to the construction of additional playing fields.

5-Athletics_SCHRADERGROUP_Springfield_School_District_High_School_Perkins&WillPhoto courtesy of Todd Mason from Halkin | Mason Photography.

The SG team is pleased to partner with Springfield School District on this wonderful project. To learn more about Springfield School District, click here.

6-Exterior-2_SCHRADERGROUP_Springfield_School_District_High_School_Perkins&WillPhoto courtesy of Todd Mason from Halkin | Mason Photography.

This project was completed in association with design architects Perkins&Will of Chicago, IL and the owner project representative CID Group of Berwick, PA. To learn more about Perkins&Will, click here.

7-Lobby_SCHRADERGROUP_Springfield_School_District_High_School_Perkins&WillPhoto courtesy of Todd Mason from Halkin | Mason Photography.

To learn more about the New Springfield High School project, and view more photos, please click here.

8-Auditorium_SCHRADERGROUP_Springfield_School_District_High_School_Perkins&WillPhoto courtesy of Todd Mason from Halkin | Mason Photography.

Thank you to Halkin | Mason Photography for the beautiful images captured of this great project. To learn more about Halkin | Mason Photography, please click here.

9-Corridor_SCHRADERGROUP_Springfield_School_District_High_School_Perkins&WillPhoto courtesy of Todd Mason from Halkin | Mason Photography.

SCHRADERGROUP Hosts Planning Workshop for Rose Tree Media School District’s New Elementary School

At SCHRADERGROUP, we believe academic design truly is the design for the future, as it provides the environment in which today’s students develop into tomorrow’s thinkers and leaders. In order to keep that goal in focus, we strive to develop designs for facilities created by the community, for the community.

Our community-based workshop process for planning and design inspires innovative design solutions that nest serve our client’s needs. Collaboration is key to supporting our client’s dreams and our team’s capabilities assist with getting to the end result. Educational facility design that is initiated by the client results in a project that will serve the community and is grounded in the district’s culture and educational philosophy. As 2021 continues, more projects are becoming realties for SG and our clients. One of these exciting projects is a new elementary school for Rose Tree Media School District (RTMSD) in Media, PA.

1_SCHRADERGROUP_Rose-Tree-Media-School-District_Design-Workshop_New-Elementary-School

SG recently partnered with RTMSD and ICS to host a planning workshop for faculty and administration of RTMSD to learn what priorities the District has for the new facility. SCHRADERGROUP team members led the process geared towards discovering different options for the new school.

The workshop began with a presentation about next generation learning and gave attendees virtual tours of state-of-the-art facilities in the country that exemplify these ideas. Next, the group broke into smaller teams and held individual visioning and building workshops with feedback loops in order to come up with and vote on the best options for the District.

2_SCHRADERGROUP_Rose-Tree-Media-School-District_Design-Workshop_New-Elementary-School

The SG team came away from this workshop event with multiple site concepts and building plans that were reported back to the larger group. From here, designs will continue with refinement workshops until a final design has been reached.

3_SCHRADERGROUP_Rose-Tree-Media-School-District_Design-Workshop_New-Elementary-School

SG is proud to work with Rose Tree Media School District and is looking forward to completing a state-of-the-art facility for the residents of the district’s municipalities.

To learn more about Rose Tree Media School District, click here.

To learn more about the new elementary school for Rose Tree Media School District, click here.

To learn more about ICS, click here.

To learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s devotion to creating next generation learning environments, click here.

SCHRADERGROUP Hosts Design Workshop for Great Valley School District for the Conceptualization of a New 5/6 Grade Center

After completing a district-wide facility assessment and master plan for the district in 2020, SCHRADERGROUP (SG) began a series of community workshops to identify priorities and to narrow the field of options for district-wide planning for Great Valley School District (GVSD). Based on the master plan, capacity analysis, and community meetings, the District opted to design a new 5/6 Grade Center on a site adjacent to the existing K.D. Markley Elementary School.

1_SCHRADERGROUP_Great-Valley-School-District-Design-Workshop_New-5-6-Grade-Center

SCHRADERGROUP’s process includes community input through planning and design workshops. In the case of the new 5/6 Grade Center, SG teamed with GVSD to hold this workshop in the existing K.D. Markley Elementary School on April 21st. SG welcomed over 50 stakeholders to the workshop to hear a review of the process, virtually tour other state-of-the-art facilities, and discuss preferences for the new 5/6 Grade Center.

After a series of consensus building exercises, the team split into smaller groups and each group created multiple options for the new facility using the existing site and programming blocks. The SG team took away some valuable feedback from this process and is very excited to start the designs for the new center.

2_SCHRADERGROUP_Great-Valley-School-District-Design-Workshop_New-5-6-Grade-Center

Learn more about Great Valley School District here.

See more of SCHRADERGROUP’s work with K-12 schools here.

3_SCHRADERGROUP_Great-Valley-School-District-Design-Workshop_New-5-6-Grade-Center

SCHRADERGROUP Hosts Design Workshop for Hatboro-Horsham School District to Determine the Future Configuration of the Keith Valley Middle School

2021 has been off to a busy start for Hatboro-Horsham School District (HHSD)! After hosting multiple conceptualization sessions in January and February and taking tours of example facilities throughout the Mid-Atlantic in March, the SCHRADERGROUP (SG) team conducted a planning workshop with HHSD staff, parents, and Hatboro and Horsham municipal officials last month.

The existing Keith Valley Middle School is aging and in need of serious repairs. There are ADA issues throughout the facility and upgrades are needed to the HVAC systems. Through prior studies and through a process conducted by D’Huy Engineering, it was determined that replacing the entire middle school was the most feasible option for the district. So, the next steps were to meet with the community members to design a replacement middle school that can better serve its students as part of a 21st century learning environment.

1_SCHRADERGROUP_Keith-Valley-Middle-School-Design-Workshop_Hatboro-Horsham-School-District

SCHRADERGROUP partnered with HHSD and D’Huy Engineering to host the workshop on April 8th. After an introductory process, the team split into smaller groups. Each group was given site plans and program blocks to brainstorm and envision the different aspects of the new school on the existing site. SG is very excited to take the next steps in creating a dynamic and functional middle school to serve the residents of Hatboro-Horsham School District.

2_SCHRADERGROUP_Keith-Valley-Middle-School-Design-Workshop_Hatboro-Horsham-School-District

Following the completion of the Crooked Billet Elementary School in 2020, this exciting project continues SG’s relationship with Hatboro-Horsham School District and all of the wonderful people who live, work and learn in the district.

Learn more about other SG projects at Hatboro-Horsham School District here.

Learn more about Hatboro-Horsham School District here.

3_SCHRADERGROUP_Keith-Valley-Middle-School-Design-Workshop_Hatboro-Horsham-School-District

School District of Springfield Township, Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center Recognized as Outstanding Project in Learning By Design’s Spring 2021 Issue

SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is proud to announce that our recently completed project, the School District of Springfield Township’s Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center, has been recognized as an Outstanding Project in Learning By Design’s Spring 2021 issue.

Each year, Learning By Design showcases the very best in the educational design and construction market. 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.

Exterior-2_SCHRADERGROUP_Learning-By-Design-Spring-2021-Outstanding Project-Enfield-ELC-SDST

SG is excited to have yet 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.

Interior-3_SCHRADERGROUP_School_District_of_Springfield_Township_Enfield_Early_Learning_Center

Faced with a growing population and following studies of potential options, SDST elected to create a new Early Learning Center for grades K-2 for their district. SCHRADERGROUP worked with the District and community to create this 105,000 SF facility nestled into a sloping site with a courtyard in the center. The learning resource center and STEAM program is located at the core of the facility and the evening public-use spaces are to the front. The academic clusters radiate from the learning resource center around the courtyard. Creative configuration of the classroom clusters allows the building to climb the hillside of the site while including a quiet contemplative courtyard nestled into the classroom clusters. The courtyard is designed to enhance outdoor learning opportunities.

Aerial_SCHRADERGROUP_Learning-By-Design-Spring-2021-Outstanding Project-Enfield-ELC-SDST

The exterior material and building masses are residential in character to work with the surrounding neighborhood. Colors, building heights and masses, and rooflines are all carefully calibrated to reduce the scale of the facility from all street views.

You can view the Spring 2021 issue of Learning By Design here.

Learn more about the Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center here. The ribbon cutting ceremony for the new facility will take place later this month!

SG is proud to have partnered with Springfield Township School District. Learn more about this amazing school district here.

Council Rock School District’s Rolling Hills Elementary School Completed with LEED Gold Certification + ACE Grant

SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is excited to announce that Council Rock School District’s (CRSD) Rolling Hills Elementary School additions and renovations project is complete. The 12,426 SF addition and 62,695 SF renovation project transformed the facility to support the next generation of learning. The construction phase of this project persevered through the challenges associated with the pandemic through spring and summer of 2020.

Rolling Hills Elementary School is a 75,121 SF single-story elementary school for grades K-6. The existing building floor plan was completely overhauled through to the concrete roof structure to convert the existing old-style open classroom layout to a progressive and functional configuration with natural daylighting.

1-Interior-5_SCHRADERGROUP_Council_Rock_School_District_Rolling_Hillls_Elementary_School

The design incorporated energy efficient solutions, including solar panels on the roof, and achieved LEED Gold Certification and an ACE Grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The transformation is further exemplified with an identifiable high-volume main entrance that floods the space with natural light. New building façades were constructed with abundant window openings and a variety of exterior finish materials which serve to fragment the horizontality of the one-story classroom wings.

2-Exterior-3_SCHRADERGROUP_Council_Rock_School_District_Rolling_Hillls_Elementary_School

Apart from the Multi-Purpose Room which remained in its previous location, the majority of the other spaces were reconfigured within the parameters of the original building footprint. Additions for an expanded and secure administration area, classrooms and stage were added to support the design program. The building also received all new exterior and interior walls, new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, and AV/IT infrastructure systems.

SG is proud of our partnership with the Council Rock School District, D’Huy Engineering, and our many great consultants. We look forward to more projects in the future.

Learn more about Council Rock School District here.

Learn more about Council Rock School District’s Rolling Hills Elementary School project, here.

See previously completed K-12 projects, including other Council Rock School District projects here.

3-Interior-4_SCHRADERGROUP_Council_Rock_School_District_Rolling_Hillls_Elementary_School

Hazleton Area School District’s Creative Solutions to Increase Student Capacity

Based on the current enrollments and the rate of new arrivals into the district, and as identified as part of SCHRADERGROUP’s capacity analysis of the District, the District’s Elementary/Middle Schools had reached and were exceeding capacity. To gain a sufficient number of classroom spaces as quickly as possible, SCHRADERGROUP designed and bid multiple building projects to convert existing interior spaces to classrooms. Interior renovations versus new construction not only saved construction costs but also reduced the timeline to occupy the spaces. The completed projects created 30 additional classrooms, increasing the Hazleton Area School District’s (HASD) Capacity to 750 students for grades K-8 for under $6 million dollars.

The two creative solutions to add classroom space was simple – capture underutilized space for the educational program. The first set of renovation projects converted existing pools to classroom spaces at multiple K-8 Schools including Freeland Elementary/Middle School, Heights Terrace Elementary/Middle School, McAdoo-Kelayres Elementary/Middle School and Valley Elementary/Middle School. The added benefit of taking multiple pool facilities off-line was the reduction of on-going maintenance costs to operate the pools year-long.

The second set of renovation projects converted a portion of the library space to a self-contained classroom space with a smaller area for the library functions at some of the elementary and/or middle schools including Drums Elementary/Middle School, Freeland Elementary/Middle School, West Hazleton Elementary/Middle School, Hazel Township Early Learning Center, Hazleton (The Castle) Elementary/Middle School, Maple Manor Elementary/Middle School, Valley Elementary/Middle School and Heights Terrace Elementary/Middle School.

These creative measures to recapture classroom space within the building effectively resolved the capacity needs at the K-8 grade levels for the foreseeable future.

SCHRADERGROUP is grateful for this opportunity and proud to have been part of many building transformations in this community. We look forward to sharing future experiences with HASD!

Learn more about Hazleton Area School District here.

Learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’S work with K-12 facilities here.

SCHRADERGROUP to Attend PSU’s Stuckeman School Virtual Career Day

SCHRADERGROUP (SG) will be attending the Pennsylvania State University’s Annual Stuckeman School Career Day on March 3, 2021. Managing Partner David Schrader will be joined by fellow Penn State alumni and SG employees, Paige Geldrich and Eric Weiss, at the SCHRADERGROUP Virtual Booth from 11am – 4pm. Come visit and meet the team!

This exciting event encourages student engagement and networking with alumni and professionals across the architecture, landscape architecture and graphic design professions. SG is honored to interact with the Stuckeman School’s high caliber students once again. Although the event is not held in person this year, SG is proud to continuously be a part of this impactful Career Day. We look forward to virtually speaking with and meeting these new thinkers and leaders of tomorrow.

Are you a PSU Stuckeman School student that would like to join the event? Register for free here.

Interested in joining the SG team? Check out what opportunities are available for you here.

Springfield School District’s New Springfield High School Project Approaches Completion

Springfield School District’s new Springfield High School is nearing completion. Constructed on the southeast corner of an existing 25-acre campus, the goal of the new high school is to provide the school district with a complex that will serve the community for the next 50 years.

2-Interior-5_SCHRADERGROUP_Springfield_School_District_High_School

SCHRADERGROUP (SG), in association with Perkins&Will, provided programming, planning, and design services for the new high school complex anticipated to encompass approximately 195,000 SF. The school will immediately serve over 1,200 students and can be expandable to accommodate approximately 1,450.

3-Exterior-2_SCHRADERGROUP_Springfield_School_District_High_School

Keeping in tune with the SG mission of creating next generation learning environments, the new high school will employ an Academy Model to provide offerings in Art, Business, STE(A)M (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), Humanities and Liberal Arts.

4-Interior-6_SCHRADERGROUP_Springfield_School_District_High_School

Beyond the high school facility, the project includes the design and construction of new site amenities, including athletic fields, parking, and a stadium complex. The project also includes demolition of the existing high school, District Administration Office Space, and all related structures.

5-Springfield School District High School Track_SCHRADERGROUP

The SG team is pleased to partner with SSD on this highly anticipated educational facility. To learn more about Springfield School District, click here.

This project is being completed in association with Perkins&Will. To learn more about Perkins&Will, click here.

To learn more about the New Springfield High School project, click here.

6-Springfield School District High School_SCHRADERGROUP

Quakertown Community School District’s Neidig Elementary School has been Transformed

Quakertown Community School District’s Neidig Elementary School is one of our best examples of how alterations and additions can transform a 1950s era building into a state-of-the-art learning environment. Originally constructed in 1958, the school opened this fall with a new look, increased capacity to accommodate 600 students to support the District’s enrollment, and spaces designed to enhance the educational program.

1-Exterior_SCHRADERGROUP_Quakertown_Community_School_District_Neidig_Elementary_School - Copy

The existing classroom wing was renovated to serve the primary grade levels with new cabinetry, finishes and toilet room renovations. A two-story classroom wing expansion for the intermediate grade levels features a centralized large group instruction area on each floor level for interactive and collaborative learning. Building circulation is captured for program space with areas provided for small group instruction and a learning stair at the main entrance lobby adjacent to the expanded administration area. The variety of spaces offer opportunities for student research, development and presentation as part of the next generation of learning.

2-Interior_SCHRADERGROUP_Quakertown_Community_School_District_Neidig_Elementary_School.jpg

Building updates in the specials wing of the building includes complete interior renovations to the library, art and music classrooms, as well as the addition of a gymnasium with a stage for physical education and school performances. Other renovations include new HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems, updated technology, a new kitchen, new roof and new windows. In addition to the building improvements, site improvements include improved circulation to separate the parent and bus loops, expanded parking and new play areas.

3-Exterior_SCHRADERGROUP_Quakertown_Community_School_District_Neidig_Elementary_School.jpg

SCHRADERGROUP is proud to have been a part of this building transformation and contributors to Quakertown Community School District’s vision for excellence in education.

To learn more about Quakertown Community School District, click here.

To learn more about QCSD’s Neidig Elementary School, here.