EDUCATIONAL

Greenman Elementary

Aurora, Illinois

Cordogan, Clark & Associates and Architecture for Education teamed as creative collaborators with the West Aurora School District for their new Greenman Elementary School. Greenman is a new replacement school for an existing 107-year old building that could no longer support growing enrollments, new technological advances, and today's teaching curriculums. The design team was able to overcome the tight urban site and more than double the size of the old school, allowing it to remain an anchor in the neighborhood. "Even though we're twice as big, we wanted to maintain that small-community environment" said Principal Erin Slater.

Critical to the design of the school was supporting both social interaction and personal development. From corridors lined with niches and custom cubbies for informal interaction, window seating areas in each classroom to shared project/resource areas and to a built-in seating amphitheater in the library, the architecture supports the District's mission of flexible learning curriculums and student interaction.

Greenman Elementary was selected as Grand Prize Winner by the National Association School Boards' 2006 Exhibition of School Architecture."The jury found this project exemplary on all levels. The architecture enriches the learning environment, enhances the education program, and complements, without mimicry, the urban/residential fabric of the neighborhood. It also provides a strong connection to the community through several outreach partnerships. Highlights of the flexible learning environment include small clusters of classrooms connected to outdoor learning rooms and technology centers, multiple use hallways, nooks and niches, all of which give clear clues as to how the spaces can be used."

The "school within a school" design concept embraces both personalized instruction and team teaching. Each classroom cluster is a small learning community of 4 classrooms, 2 technology/resource areas, and a flexible learning corridor. Each cluster may accommodate individualized rooms or various larger spaces for team teaching. Within each classroom there are bay windows with seating, shared restrooms and "learning Walls": custom, flexible and adaptable millwork that can conform to each teacher and students' needs. The resource room and corridor serve as project areas for hands-on, individual and group learning. Each 4-room classroom cluster is identified by its own color scheme, student created murals, and assigned grade level.

In addition, the school boasts an active performing arts program and essentially, this new K-5 school finds unique ways for performing arts to flourish. On the inside, the windowed music and arts rooms and the performance center come together in the school lobby. The multi-functional stage is two sided, offering a formal set up for larget assemblies to the gymnasium side and an informal stage to the lobby where the grand extra wide stairs leading to the second floor doubles as amphitheater seating. On the outside, a playful window arrangement of colored glass creates an expression of music, rhythm and harmony. But the window arrangements are not random - they're he musical notes to one of Bach's symphonies. "Small details like that have captivated the student. Kids were bumping into each other while they stare at their new surroundings" said Slater. The building design provides visual and tactile experiences that stimulate the mind and facilitate learning. In response to the performing arts theme of the school, stairs, balconies, and a 2-sided stage become places for viewing and performing. The NASB jury felt this school is stylistically sophisticated and could be an asset in most any community. "The scale, materials, and details, both inside and out, are well thought out and executed. This is a school that will delight and energize both the young students and the adults who spend time there. As a center of the community, it is what all school projects should strive for."

Greenman Elementary School has received multiple design awards and an unusual amount of recognition. In addition to the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) 2006 Award of Distinction for Excellence in the Design of Educational Evnironments, it was also the National School Board Association (NSBA) - 2006 Exhibition of School Architecture Grand Prize Winner. it was featured in School Planing Management - 2006 Education Design Showcase for which it received an Honorable Mention for 'Outstanding Architecture & Design in Education'. It received the Impact on Learning Awards Program - 2005 'Effective Classroom Design' Award (published); the School Construction News - 2005 Design Share Merit Award (published); it was the Learning By Design - 2005 National Grand Prize Winner (published); the Knowledge Works Foundation - 2005 National Search for Excellence - Finalist; an AIAIC (Inland California Chapter) Design Awards - 2005 Merit Award; and was an American School & University - 2004 'Work In Progress' Citation Award Winner. Cordogan Clark & Associates was the Architect of Record for this project; and was teamed with Architecture for Education for its design.