Tag: K-2
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.
SCHRADERGROUP Attends the Enfield Elementary School Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the School District of Springfield Township
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) recently attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Enfield Elementary School for the School District of Springfield Township (SDST) in Erdenheim, PA on May 21st. The event commemorated the completion of the school district’s newest facility. Enfield Elementary School is a state-of-the-art K-2 Early Learning Center designed to support the school’s unique learning curriculum specifically designed for this young age group.
Several design team members represented the SG team at the event, joining SDST staff, faculty, students, local community members, and D’Huy Engineering Construction Managers, all of whom were gathered to celebrate the new facility’s completion.
The morning’s events began with reflections on the project from former Superintendent Dr. Nancy Hacker and former Principal Dr. Catherine Van Vooren, both of whom were instrumental in formulating the vision and in working with the design team from the early project conception and throughout the design. David Schrader presented Dr. Hacker, the School Board, and the School District of Springfield Township with the Spring 2021 Learning by Design Award for Outstanding Project, further recognizing this achievement.
Current Superintendent Dr. MaryJo Yannacone provided comments and then current Principal Dr. Meghan Markle noted that this new facility will help nurture the students to be “creative, caring and curious” young learners. She then proudly introduced a representative from each Enfield Elementary School grade level to say a few words on what they liked about their school. One young man from first grade remarked that the best thing about the school is that his older sister was jealous that he was able to attend the school and that she couldn’t, followed by the second-grade representative who closed her comments noting the school was “Spectacular!”. The ceremony concluded with the ribbon cutting pictured below to officially dedicate the opening of the school.
Following the ceremony, a library dedication and tree dedication were held, both dedicating plaques to community members involved with the District. An outdoor luncheon finished off the festivities for the day.
SG is honored to be a part of such a significant project for the District. We are grateful to have the opportunity to support the School District of Springfield Township and are proud of this new facility dedicated to the District’s youngest learners.
SG would also like to express our gratitude to the entire team for their contributions to the design and construction of this amazing school. Thank you to D’Huy Engineering, Snyder Hoffman Associates, Renew Design Group, Lobar Inc., Boro Construction, Philips Brothers, and Stan-Roch Plumbing.
Learn more about this exciting project here.
Learn more about the School District of Springfield Township here.
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.
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.
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.
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.
School District of Springfield Township’s New Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center Opening this Fall
The School District of Springfield Township’s (SDST) Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center opens this Fall with great enthusiasm. The completion of the school is the culmination of years of planning, community input and teamwork to design a building that fosters early learning for district’s youngest students.
The new 105,000 square foot K-2 Early Learning Center (ELC) will serve as a replacement school for the K-1 Primary Center and will pull one grade out of the 2-5 elementary school to provide additional educational space. The reconfigured K-2/3-5 grade structure provided the district with new opportunities to tailor instruction to targeted age groupings.
The educational vision to enhance the learning experience through a student-centered, project-based learning approach to instruction laid the foundation for planning. As a result of a community workshop process, the hierarchy of space design and site planning spawned from the input of the group. The site access points, vehicular and bus circulation and parking, the adjacencies of the public spaces (multipurpose room/gymnasium and cafeteria) to the instructional areas, and how classroom wings of the building embrace the central outdoor learning courtyard (representative of the building ‘hugging’ the children) are all results of the community input received.
The main building entrance adjacent to the administration area anchors the interior street connection which provides access the gymnasium with stage and cafeteria. The street leads to the central core of the building featuring the learning resource center and STE(A)M programs and the educational focal point of the building, the learning stair. The educational areas can be secured to allow the use of the public spaces for community events after school hours.
Educationally, the space design of the new school supports a variety of instructional and learning opportunities. To create a sense of community for this younger age group within the context of the larger school, smaller learning communities were designed for each grade grouping. Each grade level wing branches out from the central core of the building and is supported by a large group instruction area to support collaborative activities for either single or multiple classroom instruction. Every two general classrooms share a small group instruction room facilitating individualized instruction. Classroom instruction and small and large-group spaces support project-based and personalized learning opportunities, differentiated instruction, the integration of technologies and STE[A]M experiences, and social and emotional learning experiences for all students.
Thank you to all that contributed to the design and construction of the new Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center. SCHRADERGROUP is grateful for this opportunity to create unique learning environments that correlate to SDST’s educational vision.
Learn more about the new Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center project here.