IN Peters Township October/November 2017 | Page 68

A
s the summer of 2017 drew to a close, the plans for
the new Peters Township High School were a sea of
sticky notes. Comments such as “push wall out to increase
storage,” “are there enough restrooms?,” “ventilation for
3D printer needed” and “swap chorus and band room
for better instrument transport” covered the architect’s
drawings from weeks of meetings with staff, students,
school board, parents and local first responders.
Throughout this schematic design phase, the initial
design scheme that defines the general scope and
conceptual design of the project, members of the
District administration and architects from Hayes
Design and Weber Murphy Fox worked to take months
of research and turn it into a working design plan.
Early in the process, the team reviewed detailed
surveys completed by staff members and students and
met with High School department facilitators to learn
what they needed for a new building.
“The research part of this process has been
extensive,” said High School Principal Lori Pavlik. “Our
staff and students have been vocal and involved, and
we’re excited to see where it leads us.”
With a preliminary design in hand based on the
research, it was time to gather feedback. The District
organized meetings with important stakeholders to
share the plans. During these “gallery walk” meetings,
stakeholders toured the plans and were given sticky notes
to offer considerations right on the drawings.
In addition to Board members, meetings were held
with PTA officers from all levels, booster parents, teacher
department facilitators, student leaders, as well as
representatives from the police and fire departments
and ambulance services. The largest of these meetings
involved the entire teaching staff at the High School on
their first day back from summer break.
“They had important decisions to make. Our teachers
will be in this space daily teaching our children,” added
Superintendent Jeannine French. “We need this building to
work for them and be flexible enough to meet the needs
of our children now and in the future.”
With sticky notes in place, the architect teams from
Hayes Design and Weber Murphy Fox got to work
revising the drawings to incorporate the suggestions
where possible and new designs were presented
to the Board in September. Moving forward, the
Board will approve the schematic design and the
process will progress to the design development stage,
focusing on more technical aspects of materials and
building systems.
Community members can stay up to date on the
process via the District website:
http://www.ptsd.k12.pa.us/FacilitiesPlanning.aspx
66 Peters Township
Members of
the student
leadership team
view the plans
and provided
their feedback.
Board members
have been
working with
the research for
months and had
their chance to
add comments to
the drawings.
Department
facilitators met with
the administration
and architects to
review the drawings
prior to the unveiling
for the entire staff.
Faculty members
from the High
School spent their
first day back
from summer
break diving into
the plan with
representatives
from Hayes
Design and Weber
Murphy Fox.
Architects
from Hayes
Design talk with
PTA parents
and booster
representatives
in August.