President Clinton, in his recent State of the Union address, called for billions of dollars to be spent building new schools and modernizing existing ones. In the Chicago area, however, many school districts are already doing just that.
Throughout the city and suburbs, elementary and high schools are creating movable walls and gathering places, upgrading their electrical systems to accommodate existing and emerging technologies, and harmonizing with their surrounding communities.
“If I had to sum up the school of the 21st Century, flexibility would be it,” said Augie Battaglia, principal in the Chicago architectural firm of Perkins & Will. “One thing we know for sure is, things are changing. The lesson we learned in the 1970s with open (classrooms)–five years later no one wants to do it anymore.”
Prairie Ridge High School, a Crystal Lake school that opened in September, was designed by Perkins & Will with flexibility in mind. The interior walls are thick, reinforced drywall rather than concrete block to make future remodeling easier. Classrooms and study rooms are of varying sizes to serve large and small groups and furniture is movable rather than bolted to the floor.
Another of the firm’s projects is in West Aurora School District 129, where 10 elementary schools and two middle schools are being remodeled, a new middle school is under construction, and West High School is undergoing a 100,000-square-foot addition.
Each elementary school will be equipped with a resource room for science experiments and messy activities. The schools also will have multipurpose space by placing movable walls between a few classrooms.
“Everybody would like more space in the classroom but we can’t physically move all those walls,” said Rosemary Pinnick, who served as educational projects director while the work was being launched and is now principal of the new middle school scheduled to open in August. “Instead, we’ve created some large spaces and will coordinate the usage of them.”
The addition to West High School will create the equivalent of 20 new classrooms. Ten are being built in typical classroom format. The others are being configured as lecture and small-group space but could be converted to traditional classrooms in the future.
Another design innovation is accessibility. Because students often study independently or in small groups, they require access to teachers, information and each other.
“In 1950 all we needed in a study hall was a desk, a No. 2 pencil and a book,” Battaglia said. “In today’s study hall you need a computer, connection to the Internet and maybe one-on-one (access to) a teacher.”
At Prairie Ridge, 6000 Dvorak Drive, the student resource area includes a library, computer rooms, small and large study areas, cafeteria and all faculty and counselor offices. Students not in class may order snacks, socialize or work on assignments–or all three.
“It’s kind of like an open campus but it’s indoors,” Principal John Mackie said. “We’ve discovered it has relieved a lot of stress with the kids. They can socialize, but they are also learning responsibility. They have to budget their time. They can’t sit around and drink Coke all the time.”
Seniors Kelly Grupczynski and Del Leistritz had the choice of attending Prairie Ridge or remaining at Crystal Lake Central High School, which they had attended for three years. Both chose to make the change.
“I like it a lot,” Grupczynski said. “Having the library and computer room and food all day is a big plus to me. All the resources are open to kids. The students are given more responsibility, and they take it. They aren’t abusing it.”
Leistritz also likes it. “It was funny at first to see all the teachers in the same place, and you have to go through a receptionist (to talk to a teacher). But it’s fine now.”
Keeping up in the age of technology is another concern to those who build schools and those who teach in them. Power to run computers and their peripherals is important, but so are energy-efficient buildings and the capability to run equipment not yet invented. Some schools may not yet have the means to purchase the hardware and software, but when they do, the wiring is in place.
All schools designed by the architectural firm of Ross Barney and Jankowski Inc. in Chicago are done with technology in mind, but some are omitting computer laboratories, said Carol Ross Barney, company president.
“A change that is happening is that kids come to school and know how to use a computer,” she said. “The idea of sitting in a typing lab is less and less the rule.”
Renovation or rebuilding of some type is in the works at most of the 561 schools in the Chicago Public Schools system, said Tim Martin, the chief operating officer. Improvement projects at existing schools include interior and exterior renovation, infrastructure enhancement and general clean-up. About half the schools were built before the 1930s.
“When they built them, they did not envision copy machines, fax machines, microwaves, refrigerators–all the necessary things that go into a school nowadays,” he said.
In existing schools, power-eating light fixtures are being replaced with energy-conserving ones to allow more electrical capacity. Energy-efficient heating systems are replacing aging boilers.
“These are improvements nobody sees, but (they) go to the efficiency of the school and how it operates,” Martin said.
The city’s new schools and additions to existing ones are being built with expanded electrical capacities. Computer labs and libraries with computer workstations are included in the designs.
Private schools, too, are upgrading their facilities. In August, Queen of Peace High School, a girls school at 7659 S. Linder Ave., Burbank, completed the first phase of a renovation project that includes two new science labs and a fitness center. The labs can be used for lectures, experimentation and small-group projects. Computer terminals at the lab tables let students tabulate their results immediately.
“Having state-of-the-art science labs enables our young women to have a quality high school experience and to give them a leg up when they get so college,” said Principal Patricia Nolan-Fitzgerald.
The fitness center, which includes a dance studio and an outdoor softball field, is the result of the popularity of women’s athletics, she said.
“Lots of college scholarships are available for those who excel,” she said. “We are able to help by offering a facility that encourages our students to develop their skills.”
Still another recent concept in school buildings is supporting the neighborhood and community, architects and school administrators said. In some cases, buildings are designed to reflect their natural environment and, in others, to reflect the culture of the surrounding community.
“We’re seeing schools being custom-built for their sites,” Barney said. “What is great for me as an architect is when kids think a building is neat and it’s theirs. You can always argue a building by itself can’t make good educational programming, but if kids are excited about their school, it has to be easier to teach them.”
The Prairie Ridge property includes wetland and a creek, and the bordering forest is home to deer, fox and other wildlife. The building’s design includes many windows and glass walls, which flood the interior with natural light and invite moments of quiet contemplation.
Little Village Academy, which opened September 1996, serves children in prekindergarten through 8th grade on the city’s West Side. The school’s enrollment is predominately Hispanic Architects from Ross Barney and Jankowski repeated a motif of the sun, which is frequently found in Mexican mythology. A three-story working sundial was built inside the building. Sun rays are painted on a outdoor plaza, a popular meeting place for students and visitors. Windows are positioned so light fills the building.
“They wanted design features that relate to their neighborhood and to the people the school was being constructed for,” Barney said.
“Some of the modern buildings in Mexico are similar in color and types of materials we have here,” Principal Fredric Arana said.
The school, at 2620 S. Lawndale Ave., also was configured with a large multipurpose room, which is used for student activities, parent meetings and English as a Second Language classes for adults.
“The children like it a lot,” Arana said. “Some of them came from schools that were old and overcrowded. We have an ideal climate here that sends the message that education is important.”
“The kids feel good about coming to school,” said Madonna Arrendondo, one of three 3rd-grade teachers at the school. They know the school is a part of them and reflects their community. They have so much pride in that.”
“The feeling of a certain pride in our Hispanic culture helps me feel right at home–a home away from home,” said 8th grader Jesus Romero.
Another way schools are reaching out–and into–their communities is by forging partnerships with civic and government organizations and private businesses. .
West Aurora school district’s Washington Middle School, at 231 Constitution Drive, Aurora, was remodeled to include a branch of the local public library and a technical center that can be rented by area businesses to train employees.
Some of the Chicago Public Schools are sharing space, facilities and funds with the Chicago Park District and the city in the development of recreational facilities and multipurpose rooms, Martin said.
“It saves precious resources,” he said. “It makes the school a friendly place to come to. Families can now partake of our schools. Community organizations during the off hours can use our facilities. As more people identify with the school, they’ll take care of it.”
