By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Molly Smith with thinkSMART planning Inc met with the school steering committee Friday afternoon May 5, to begin the process of determining needs, desires and must haves for the new PreK-12 school campus.
She began the meeting presenting a quick overview of what has been approved by the RPS board of education which was a PreK-12 school campus. Smith went on to present many of the new concepts that are being designed into new school buildings. The concept designs are a radical change from the building designs that a large portion of the population are familiar with.
The new design concepts take into account new ways of teaching and learning including technology and group learning. Biophilic designs are a concept that create learning environments that are designed on natural shapes, forms, patterns, and processes including natural light and space. Outdoor learning spaces which are already being used in the school system are a big item that the committee wants to continue with, that include many of the biophilic concepts.
The committee also identified items like right sized learning environments and facilities like restrooms, and furniture for the different age groups and staff the campus will house. A central kitchen for the cafeteria that can also meet the needs of special diets or food prep. Additional room for in school suspension and students that exhibit mental issues. Meeting rooms for staff and or meetings with parents or guardians.
The facility will also need to take into account security, the use of community volunteers and peer tutoring. A campus setting will reduce transportation costs for food services, teachers and allow a more convenient utilization of students for peer tutoring.
The process of determining the needs, desires and must haves for the new school campus will continue over the next few months. Community input on the project is not only asked for but being required to fully understand the needs of the students and parents in the community to provide the architects and designers the information they will need to create a state of the art campus for years of learning by many generations.
