Northwest ISD Navigator Magazine Spring 2017-18 | Page 13

“I had many good ideas,” she said, “but I chose this idea [of
focusing on school security] because it is important to me to
have something to keep students safe.”
In all, 137 students, 50 educators and 12 district design
team members provided some form of input for the new
elementary design. Additionally, 17 meetings were conducted,
several tours of modern elementary schools were taken and
many students were interviewed either in one-on-one sessions
or as part of “school of the future” project presentations. Some
examples of student feedback used in design include flexible
seating, the library’s features and location, and collaboration
space sizes.
Northwest ISD’s facilities team and Huckabee’s architects
merged students’ input with the district’s long-term goals,
creating a unique school design that celebrates students
working together.
Because the new elementary school design is what’s known as a
“prototype” – meaning multiple schools share the same general
layout, with some possible tweaks based on each campus
location – several growing communities within Northwest ISD
will have schools with the design. The new prototype design
will first be used at Elementary No. 19, located in the Harvest
community at the northeast portion of Northwest ISD. After
a design process that included several months of feedback
and many more months of planning, that elementary will
begin construction in the coming months, with an anticipated
opening in 2019.
While not all of the student feedback was used – the school
won’t have waterslides, for instance – it did guide how architects
considered student use of schools that will use the prototype
design. When future students of new elementary schools work
in collaboration spaces, they’ll actually make memories in areas
thought up by former elementary students. n
“When we built Eaton High School, we focused on
collaboration spaces – areas outside of classrooms where
students can work together in different environments – and
we brought a lot of that to Adams Middle School,” said
Tim McClure, assistant superintendent for facilities, at a
community meeting revealing the design. “Having those areas
at the secondary level, we felt it was important going forward
to prepare our elementary students for that, so they can gain
growth and maturity from collaboration.”
Several collaboration spaces will be spread throughout
grade-level halls of schools using the new design, and other
aspects of the schools will similarly prioritize collaboration.
The learning commons and library area, for instance, will
have built-in Makerspace areas, where students can physically
create and work on projects. The learning commons will also
have other dedicated spaces for student collaboration, similar
to many collegiate libraries.
Even the fact that the design is two stories factors into
the community, collaborative style of the school. The fine
arts stage in the cafeteria area can be seen from a second-
story balcony that provides more vantage points for family
members watching performances. Some staircases themselves
are also designed for collaboration, with a “learning stair”
concept used to provide more spaces for students to work
together.
“Our desire was for the learning commons, located near
the center of the design, to be the true heart of the school,”
Mr. McClure explained. “It’s a hub that anchors everything
together. It’s an area that’s open and welcoming, and a lot of
the school’s design feeds off that, with room for community
events so families feel at home here.”
Editor’s Note: Renderings of
Northwest ISD’s new elementary
prototype design in this article are
preliminary and subject to change.
While the overall presentation will
largely reflect these images, some
areas may see modifications.
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