School board hears building design options

Lee Dore of Dore & Whittier Project Management Architecture attended the school board meeting on March 20 to discuss the various options they have explored for the future of both the middle school and high school. The 45-minute presentation covered eight potential plans in detail, ranging from a baseline general updating of the current buildings to completely brand new construction for both schools.

“What I’m showing you tonight is nowhere near a final design. These are really conceptual,” Dore explained, first showing actual cocktail napkin designs before moving on to more sophisticated, detailed diagrams.

The options explored both the possibility of combining the middle school and high school under one roof, as well as the idea of bringing fifth grade up to join the middle school. Dore said the firm wants to make sure that they are covering all the scenarios that could unfold over the next few years.

One challenge for the architects has been working around the high school’s running track, which was recently completed in 2016. All eight of the current options of the table show different configurations that leave the $1 million track untouched. However, new options could be introduced if they find that the cost of avoiding the track outweighs the cost of the original investment in the track.

Some of the options call for extensions to the current spaces, enlarging the gymnasiums and cafeterias, and adding additional wings. These choices would call for a longer construction period, upwards of three to four years, while they phase students in and out of the buildings with the use of a portable classroom village. More drastic options like moving the high school next to the middle school or building completely new schools would be completed in less time, as students can occupy the older sites while new ones are in construction.

Options include the schools adjacent to each other, but not connected, the schools completely under one roof with shared mechanical space and just one kitchen serving two cafeterias, and a from-scratch idealistic space that includes outdoor learning areas, something the community has been interested in pursuing. In general, access to natural daylight has been a driving factor for the architects’ designs.

“About 60 percent of [the middle school] building has no access to natural light,” Dore said. “What we know now is that natural light is really important. There are lots of studies out there on how it helps improve learning, so that’s been high on our priorities as something that we wanted to address. We are striving to get a view of natural daylight into every occupiable space.”

Some of the designs include cutting out holes on the roofs of the cafeterias or other larger spaces, like the media center, to bring down sunlight via large skylights. This would include the use of Hellerup stairs, a wide staircase system that doubles as sitting space, and second floors that overlook the sunlit rooms.

Another goal is separating the bus area from the parent drop-off circle. All eight options aim to reduce traffic congestion by having completely different entrances for the buses and parent vehicles. Furthermore, the buses would be able to continue their route on site from the high school to the middle school without having to exit back onto Dorset Street. Other ideas include a major upgrade to the high school auditorium, taking it from 400 seats to 750, as well as a general separation between the academic spaces and the public forum spaces, such as the auditorium, cafeteria, and other locations where events are held.

Next up, a presentation to the public is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, April 11. Dore plans to roll out all eight options, excluding the cost factor for the time being.

“We like to evaluate these options on their own merit, educationally, and score them that way and then look at the cost to see if that changes people’s minds,” Dore explained.

The school board meets again on April 3 at the Chamberlin School Cafeteria. To view the meeting in its entirety, visit retn.org.