Tag: School District of Springfield Township

SCHRADERGROUP Attends the A4LE LearningSCAPES 2022 Conference in San Antonio, TX

Members of the SCHRADERGROUP (SG) team traveled to San Antonio, Texas to attend the annual Association for Leaning Environments (A4LE) LearningSCAPES Conference from October 5th to the 9th at the Marriott Rivercenter. SG Managing Partner David Schrader, Principal Harry Pettoni, and Project Architect Chris Farmer represented SG at the conference. Not only was SG a proud sponsor of this great event, but we are also proud to announce that this conference included Managing Partner David Schrader being awarded the A4LE Lifetime Achievement Award!

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For decades, the LearningSCAPES conference has allowed educators, policymakers, planners, and design professionals from across the globe to experience cutting edge next generation educational planning. The conference offers world-class educational sessions and inspiring keynote speakers who initiate best practices for creating effective learning environments for future generations.

The conference included six tours of various Pre-K to Higher Education schools and facilities in the areas surrounding San Antonio. Each facility offered attendees the chance to experience the latest and greatest in educational facility design. We would like to thank Alamo Heights Independent School District, Northside Independent School District, and Anne Frank Inspire Academy for welcoming us into their wonderful schools and facilities!

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David Schrader, Managing Partner of SCHRADERGROUP, was also awarded the A4LE Lifetime Achievement Award during the conference. The Lifetime Achievement Award is the most distinguished award bestowed to an A4LE member. The award honors an individual who has distinguished him or herself for making significant lasting contributions to the educational facility planning industry throughout their career.

SCHRADERGROUP exhibited the School District of Springfield Township’s new Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center project in the exhibition hall during the conference. The team was proud to have the opportunity to showcase this project amongst the other incredible work on display.

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SCHRADERGROUP was also proud to be a Dean’s List 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.

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.

To learn more about A4LE, click here. To learn more about the LearningSCAPES Conference and see additional photos of the conference, click here.

To learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s commitment to creating 21st Century learning environments, click here.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is happy to announce that our School District of Springfield Township’s Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center project has received an Outstanding Project Award from Learning By Design Magazine for their Fall 2021 Architectural and Interior Design Awards of Excellence Showcase.

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.

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This early elementary school is warm and welcoming, with a great exterior design to draw children in. Transparency to the outdoors as well as between spaces adds more life and interaction. The overall vibe of the interiors is one of cool and clean simplicity with subtlety rich detailing of naturally hued materials,” said one of the jurors for the panel about Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center.

SG is proud to have another project featured in this prestigious magazine. We would like to thank the School District of Springfield Township (SDST) and all our collaborators and consultants for their help in making this project a reality. We are thrilled to have this great facility featured in this showcase.

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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 the 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.

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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 Fall 2021 Architectural and Interior Design Awards of Excellence issue of Learning By Design here.

Learn more about the Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center here.

SG is proud to have partnered with Springfield Township School District on this and other great projects. Learn more about this wonderful school district here.

School District of Springfield Township, Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center Recognized for Outstanding Design by American School & University’s 2021 Educational Interiors Showcase

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 by yet another publication for its unique design aspects.

This time, the Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center was recognized by American School & University (AS&U) Magazine’s Educational Interiors Showcase as an “Outstanding Design” in the Cafeteria / Food-Service Areas category.

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 Education Interiors Showcase, the premier competition honoring education interiors excellence. SG is honored to have the dining space of this unique facility recognized by this year’s showcase.

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The Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center’s dining facility has two internal entrances from the main lobby and the learning stairs corridor (which leads to the classroom wings,) as well as an outside entrance directly adjacent to the bus drop off. The cafeteria has a partition separating it from the gymnasium that opens to allow for a larger space for performances, assemblies and after-school community events. This also allows the space to become accessible for public use with entry from the exterior after school hours.

Intentionally located directly adjacent to the outdoor recess area, students rotate from lunch in the dining space to outdoor play. Whether coming in for lunch from their classroom or after recess, handwashing stations allow for multiple students to wash their hands at a time. This has become critically useful during the pandemic to promote healthy hygiene.

The kitchen is also uniquely designed for this age group as an amenity to the dining commons. The serving line is on the same floor level as the cafeteria for the proper height for young students to navigate their trays. On the kitchen side of the serving line, the floor level is dropped in elevation so the adult staff can serve the students at a level of comfort relative to their height. Another attribute to the space is the ability to accommodate social distancing in this large flexible space.

SG is excited to have yet another feature recognized for this exciting project. 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.

You can view the Education Interiors Showcase issue 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center

Learn more about the new Enfield K-2 Early Learning Center project here.

School District of Springfield Township Marks the Beginning of Their New Early Learning Center Construction with a Groundbreaking Ceremony

SCHRADERGROUP attended School District of Springfield Township’s groundbreaking ceremony for the new K-2 Early Learning Center in Erdenheim, Pennsylvania.

More than 200 people from the community joined the School District to celebrate the groundbreaking for the new school. Big smiles radiated from all as Board Members, Project Team Members, Parents and future students dug into the site with their hard hats on. Dr. Nancy Hacker, Superintendent of schools, thanked the community and those who have worked diligently on the new school for their efforts. She, fellow Board Members and local representatives expressed appreciation for the teamwork required to get to this point.

SCHRADERGROUP is equally grateful and excited for this project’s success and will diligently continue to support its journey.

Check out our project page on this highly anticipated project here.