Tag: school buildings
SCHRADERGROUP Attends North Penn School District’s Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Knapp Elementary School
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) attended the ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the completion of an additions and renovations project to Knapp Elementary School for North Penn School District (NPSD) in Lansdale, PA on October 18th. Managing Partner David Schrader and Associates Danie Hoffer and Devin Bradbury represented SG at the event.
The ribbon cutting ceremony commemorated the transformation of this 1950’s facility into a next generation school. The 13,200 SF of additions and 64,800 SF of renovations to Knapp Elementary help facilitate interactive learning, provide enhanced learning environments with natural light, and generate a new sense of pride for the school and the community from the moment you enter its doors.
Community members were invited to see the new and improved school and to hear from district and community leaders. After a few words by the NPSD administration and David Schrader, the ribbon cutting ceremony was held. Following the ceremony, community members and attendees were invited to tour the new and improved facility and hear from staff and students about what they love about their new school.
The building renovations address ADA compliance issues and complete interior improvements throughout the school. The infrastructure and systems design incorporates energy-efficient construction, all-new lighting, HVAC, electrical systems, plumbing, technology, and fire alarm systems. The building design now serves 700 students.
The existing school was configured with classroom wings on either side of central enclosed spaces that housed the administration offices, kitchen, and cafeteria. As part of the renovation, a third classroom wing was added for grades 5-6 to accommodate the population and to eliminate the modular classrooms on-site. The central core was reconfigured to pull the dining commons directly across from the main entrance lobby and the roof structure was raised to introduce natural light into the space through clerestory windows. The library/resource center was relocated to the former cafeteria which now opens into a large group instruction area that is an extension of the dining commons. Internally connected to the two existing classroom wings and the third newly added classroom wing, these core spaces offer a variety of instructional areas in addition to small group instruction rooms provided in the classroom wings for pull-out instruction. The administration was relocated to the former library area directly adjacent to the main entrance which could now be secured.
To clearly identify the main public entrance to the school, the entry features a tall, glass-enclosed volume further marked by the prominent entrance canopy leading to it. This serves as the parent drop-off area with a new entry to the side of the addition serving as a separate bus loop. Sufficient parking is provided in the existing parking lot for staff and visitors with the bus loop used for parking for off-hour events. Outdoor facilities include new paving and sidewalks, hardscape and softscape play areas, one playfield, and open space.
SG would like to express our gratitude to the entire NPSD team for their contributions to improving their district’s schools. We would also like to thank our consulting team for all of the wonderful collaborative work done on this project.
To learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s commitment to design for education, please click here.
To learn more about the North Penn School District, click here.
SCHRADERGROUP Attends PASBO Facilities, Transportation, & Safety Conference & Exhibits
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) recently attended the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) Facilities, Transportation, & Safety Conference & Exhibits in Lancaster, PA on November 4, 2021. This was the first time this conference was held in Lancaster.
The conference was held at the Lancaster Marriot & Convention Center, which is only a couple blocks away from our Lancaster office on King Street. SG exhibited at the conference in the convention hall and was honored to be a Bronze Sponsor for the event. SG team members Danielle Hoffer, Charlotte Stoudt, and Denis Brennan attended the trade show to connect once again with familiar faces and to meet many more.
This year’s conference dialed the focus down to three key areas important to school business officials: facility management, student transportation, and school safety. School facility management affects teaching and learning, student and staff health, day-to-day building operations, and the long-range fiscal health of the district. Attendees included facilities directors and personnel, school safety personnel, business managers, and superintendents.
The SG team would like to thank the dedicated staff of PASBO for organizing this great event and to all attendees who stopped by our booth to chat and ask questions. We look forward to the annual conference that will be held from March 8-11, 2022 in Hershey, PA. Come find us at Booth 410 to chat about your projects and ideas for your school district’s needs.
PASBO is a Pennsylvania-based, state-wide association with over 3,000 members. They are devoted to providing members with the education, training, professional development and timely access to legislation and policy news needed to run a school district smoothly and successfully. While their membership base varies greatly, the association has a common goal of supporting classroom learning through smart business practices. To learn more about PASBO and the work that they do, click here.
To learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s work with K-12 schools, click here.
SCHRADERGROUP Attends the A4LE LearningSCAPES 2021 Conference in Denver, Colorado
Members of the SCHRADERGROUP (SG) team recently traveled to Denver, Colorado to attend the annual Association for Leaning Environments (A4LE) LearningSCAPES Conference from October 14th to the 17th at the Colorado Convention Center.
For decades, the LearningSCAPES conference has allowed educators, policymakers, planners, and design professionals from across the globe to experience the cutting edge of new educational design. The conference offers world-class educational sessions and inspiring keynote speakers who dive into best practices for creating effective learning environments for future generations.
Themes explored during the conference included the recent disruptive forces surrounding the global pandemic, social injustice, and economic stresses that have made the need for holistic and radical change more visible.
This year’s conference explored the idea of “Disruptive Optimism” and delved into the disruptive forces at play around the world, the positive opportunities they represent, and the actions we must take to create an optimistic and more effective future. The conference allowed members from around the world to converse about educational visions, connect through experiences and discoveries, and exchange expertise about next generation learning environments and their evolving needs.
The first day of the conference included six tours of various Pre-K to Higher Education schools and facilities in the areas surrounding Denver. Each facility offered attendees the chance to experience the latest and greatest in educational facility design. We would like to thank Boulder Valley School District, the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Denver, Cherry Creek School District, Douglas County School District, and Littleton Public Schools for welcoming us into their wonderful schools and facilities!
Information sessions included presentations such as “Social/Emotional Learning through Curriculum and School Design,” “Designing Schools for Parental Engagement,” and “Engineering the Future Leaders of Our Community,” just to name a few.
Established in 1921, A4LE is a non-profit association whose sole mission is improving the places where children learn. They believe that facilities impact the learning, development, and behavior of the user, the planning process is essential for quality facilities, sharing and networking improves the planning process, and that there is a standard by which to measure this success.
SCHRADERGROUP exhibited the new Upper Merion Area High School project in the exhibition hall during the conference. The team is proud to have had this opportunity to showcase this project amongst the other incredible work on display.
SCHRADERGROUP was also proud to be a Pewter Sponsor for the conference and is always happy to support a great organization like A4LE. We are, and have been, proud sponsors of A4LE’s great annual expositions. To learn more about A4LE, click here. To learn more about the LearningSCAPES Conference, click here.
To learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s commitment to creating 21st Century learning environments, click here.
SCHRADERGROUP Attends the LearningSCAPES 2019 Annual Conference in Anaheim, California
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) attended the annual Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) LearningSCAPES 2019 Conference on October 3-6, at the Hyatt Regency Orange County in Anaheim, California.
The conference offered world-class educational sessions and award-winning speakers supporting best practices to creating efficient educational learning environments. The conference allowed members from around the world to converse about educational visions, connect through experiences and discoveries, and exchange expertise about next generation learning environments and their evolving needs.
Themes explored included; public schools and 21st Century Learning Environments, future-focused facilities, co-creating for future generations and many other topics supporting 21st century educational trends.
Information sessions included presentations such as, “The Application of Environmental Psychology to K-12 School Planning and Design,” “Safe, Secure, and Supportive Schools: Creating learning environments that address the well-being of students and staff” and “Visualization to Improve and Enhance the School Design Experience,” to name a few.
The SG team is appreciative of this opportunity to have collaborated with other industry experts. We are, and have been, a proud sponsor of A4LE’s great annual EXPOS.
Learn about SG’s 21st century learning environments here.
Learn more about LearningSCAPES 2019 here, or the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) here.
Visit SCHRADERGROUP at the PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference this Fall!
SCHRADERGROUP will be exhibiting Wednesday, October 16th through Friday, October 18th at the 2019 annual PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference which will be held at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center.
The School Leadership Conference is the annual Conference for the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA) and the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA.) The conference brings school leaders from all over the Commonwealth together to share, inspire, network, inform and equip our educational leaders with opportunities for success.
You can find the SCHRADERGROUP team at booth #411—the team is prepared to discuss dynamic opportunities for your school district!
Learn more about the Conference here.
SCHRADERGROUP at the Educational Leadership Summit 2019
SCHRADERGROUP is exhibiting at the Educational Leadership Summit today at the Kalahari Resorts in the Poconos! Stop by booth 41 to chat with us about your K-12 projects!
You can find out more about the Summit here.
See You at the Maryland-DC ASBO Spring Conference in Ocean City, Maryland!
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is excited to exhibit at the 2019 Spring MD-DC ASBO Conference once again!
The Association of School Business Officials of Maryland and the District of Columbia (MD-DC ASBO) is an organization that “serves school business professionals by promoting educational excellence through improved business practices; providing networking opportunities; identifying and sharing solutions to everyday problems; offering professional expertise in major business areas; and compiling and sharing research information and best practices.”
You can find SCHRADERGROUP at booth 806 from May 20th through the 21st. Come visit to discuss how SG can help your District create dynamic and functional learning environments to benefit your community for generations.
You can register to attend the MD-DC ASBO Spring Conference here.
Or check out some of our Academic experience here.
SCHRADERGROUP Celebrates Fifteen Years!
This year marks SCHRADERGROUP (SG)’s fifteenth anniversary. The business was established on April 15, 2004 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Fifteen years ago, Managing Partner David Schrader founded SG with the vision of designing for the future—for tomorrow’s workers, thinkers, and leaders. SG’s initial mission was to give back to the community and to build foundations for future generations. Since its inception, SG has succeeded in creating 21st century academic facilities for students, instructors, and staff. SG has also designed sustainable, survivable, community-oriented facilities for public safety/law enforcement personnel and mission critical personnel. SG is recognized both regionally and nationally for design that offers the highest degree of service to the user, responds to and respects both the built and natural environment, and demonstrates inspired aesthetics.
As SG continues to grow, we honor our beginnings and those who have helped shape us into what we’ve become today. In the images below, we have collected some of our most memorable accomplishments from those last fifteen years.
SG would like to thank our clients, supporters, and community for the opportunities past and present. Further, we’d like to thank these talented colleagues, past and present, who have been so critical to making these great projects a success. We look forward to the next fifteen years of improving the day-to-day experiences of students, faculty, staff, and community through innovative and dynamic design.
Council Rock School District, Holland Middle School. Additions and renovations in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
Read more about the project here.
Learn more about our other project experience here or visit our current SG team page here.
Circle of Seasons Charter School Celebrates the School Renovation Project with a Dedication Ceremony
Circle of Seasons (COS) Charter School celebrates their newly renovated school with a Dedication Ceremony. COS is a non-profit charter school in Fogelsville, Pennsylvania, that provides education based on the core principles of public Waldorf Education—educational philosophy with a focus on holistic learning of “intellectual, artistic and practical skills.”
The COS strings ensemble opened the ceremony showcasing the musical talents of the students.
Following the students’ performance, Ellen Millard-Kern, Chief of Staff for Pennsylvania Senate District 16, gave a congratulatory speech on behalf of Pat Browne, Pennsylvania Senator of the 16th District. Ms. Millard-Kern presented a certificate of congratulations and admiration of the school’s new renovation and dedication to learning. Speeches of COS’s vision and inspiration were also given by State House Representative, Gary Day, and by COS’s Board President, Ms. Kalyna Procyk.
COS Principal/Head of School, Alison Saeger-Panik, thanked everyone who has supported their mission which will now be enhanced by the renovations to the school. Tours of the school followed the ceremonies.
The building was originally a branch of Pennsylvania State University before it was sold to COS and renovated to meet their educational needs. The facility is approximately 40,000 SF on 38 acres of land that the School owns. Currently, COS has over 300+ students from grades K-7 and plans to include grade 8 in the future.
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) wants to thank COS Board of School Directors for the opportunity to be a partner in the renovation of their unique learning facility and for Ms. Saeger-Panik for the many hours she invested to the design and construction to ensure the project’s success.
The photos below are the newly renovated spaces–you can tell that they are lived-in and loved by the teachers and students!
SCHRADERGROUP Partners with Upper Merion Area School District Administration to Provide Saint Joseph University’s Education Doctorate Program with a Tour of Gulph Elementary School
SCHRADERGROUP (SG)’s Managing Partner, David Schrader, was proud to assist in a presentation and group tour of the Upper Merion Area School District (UMASD)’s Gulph Elementary School. The tour was provided for the Saint Joseph University’s Doctoral Program in Educational Administration.
SG is proud of the opportunity to share the incredible school that UMASD has built as an example of how inspiring learning environments can make a difference in education today. Gulph Elementary School is an excellent example of how the collaboration between a School District and a design team can result in transformative facilities to support next generation learning processes.
You can learn more about UMASD’s schools, Caley and Gulph Elementary Schools here.