Eudora Elementary School

1. 2010 Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture Eudora Elementary School Eudora, Kansas New Construction Project of Distinction DLR Group

2. Eudora Elementary School Young learners in Eudora, Kan., go places every day, but not just ordinary places. They experience every corner of the globe by entering the new Eudora Elementary School.

3. Eudora Elementary School Monument Sign Car Loop Car Loop Second Grade Third Grade Storm Detention Eudora Elementary School Future District Support Facility First Grade Fourth Grade Future Addition Fifth Grade Existing Residential Greenway Park System Storm Detention Softball Field Pedestrian Link Artificial Turf Bus Loop Playground Soft Play Multi-Purpose Field Softball Field Football Practice Field Baseball Field Pedestrian Link Existing Residential

4. Community Voice Prevails Community Environment: Eudora, Kan., is a suburban, bedroom community 30 minutes southwest of Kansas City. With a lack of industry in the town, the majority of taxes are paid by households. In recognition of this burden on taxpayers, the Eudora School District seeks opportunities to spend community funds responsibly and appropriately. Members of the Eudora community were instrumental in the initial planning stages of the new elementary school. More than a year before any ballot issue was placed before voters, dozens of stakeholders – parents, patrons, teachers, and administrators – gathered to discuss the types of facilities that would best meet the need of the community and its children. In the case of Eudora Elementary, this Community Advisory Committee (CAC) expressed two major concerns that ultimately guided the design process: EQUITY and future GROWTH. Eudora Elementary School is a great example of a building that meets diverse community, facility and budgetary needs, while making student learning the absolute top priority. --Don Grosdidier, Superintendent

5. Equity. Growth. Community Environment: EQUITY. Members of the CAC wanted a school large enough to accommodate all children in elementary grades. In a small community such as Eudora, they feared that having “neighborhood” schools – individual K-5 buildings with attendance boundaries – would create tension, resentment and unfairness between different areas within the community. A single attendance center for all students in grades 1-5, however, would ensure that every Eudora child benefited from the same caliber of teacher, facility and opportunity. GROWTH. The CAC requested the new elementary school be built on a scale that would suit the community’s continued growth for many years. Community members were adamant that they not be asked again in 3, 5 or 8 years, to pass bonds for another new school. This influenced not only the size of the existing building, but also the decision to masterplan a future sixth pod, if it should be needed in the future. The building allows for a lot of students but you notice the quietness at the same time!!!   --Becky Topil, First Grade Teacher

6. Personal, Inviting Community Environment: While these community desires – for one school that was large enough to accommodate future growth – required a large facility, the CAC drew up one final requirement: that the new school feel personal and individual for every student. In a small town, nobody was excited about the idea of having a big school for elementary students with long hallways and an impersonal, institutional feel. Community and staff members, alike, believed that the new building needed to be designed in such a way that even the youngest of students felt connected and insulated from the potentially impersonal scale of a larger building. In addition to other district-wide projects, the elementary school was funded through a $45 million bond referendum in Nov. 2007.

7. Trendsetters Community Environment: The 30-person Community Advisory Committee (CAC) involved Community Representatives, the Superintendent, Administration, Parents and Teachers. This group determined one large community school would be more efficient to operate, and would decrease the number of transitions students would make from school to school throughout their career at Eudora School District. Together with the design team, the CAC set out to tour large elementary schools in the Kansas City and surrounding area, however they had difficulties finding elementary schools that housed 1,000 students. The CAC and Eudora administration seized an opportunity to be a trendsetting district and build one large school for the entire elementary school population. They realized the key to the success of the school was the design, and began to focus on the solution.

8. Nimble Design Community Environment: The CAC defined the following Guiding Principles for the design solution: Simple, kid-friendly design Small learning communities Overall theme to engage students in learning Collaboration Inner space Flexibility of group gathering spaces The result is a nimble, flexible design that can evolve to meet the needs of Eudora students for decades. The new 130,000-square foot school is designed around a small learning community (SLC) concept to reduce the scale of the school for young students. Currently Eudora Elementary School has five SLCs, each supporting 200 students. The SLCs are occupied by students in a single grade level, but could be organized to accommodate multiple grade levels in the future. I appreciate having all of our 1st grade rooms so close together.  We can team teach and have rotations for many different activities. --Becky Topil, First Grade Teacher

9. Oh the Places You’ll Go! Learning Environment: The creative inspiration driving design development was the child-favorite Dr. Seuss’ Oh the Places You’ll Go! In his beloved story,Dr. Seuss encourages his readers to find the success that lies within. Designers agreed this is the perfect concept for an elementary school design, setting the stage for our future generation of leaders. Using Dr. Seuss’ Oh the Places You’ll Go as inspiration, designers wanted to: Raise awareness of unique worldly environments; and Incorporate the “world” into the building design Ecosystems are the overarching theme of the school. Unique biomes give identity to each of the five SLCs, provide wayfinding inside the school and incorporate learning within students’ daily environment. The biomes include: Arctic, Aquatic, Desert, Rain Forest and Savanna. The diverse “biome” interior finishes help students immediately and personally identify with their small learning communities. --Don Grosdidier, Superintendent

10. Worldly Environments Learning Environment: A school’s primary purpose is to facilitate education and engage students in learning, and this ecosystem-themed school enhances learning opportunities around every corner. As students travel through the school they discover each biome independently. They cannot see a biome from within another, which allows students to become fully immersed in their unique surroundings. The building is a learning tool through creative finishes, fixtures and furnishings exhibiting the world’s unique environments. All materials, textures and colors play off each specific biome. For instance, the Aquatics SLC features blues and greens to emulate water and sea life; while the Desert SLC highlights yellows and golds to represent sand and sun. At the beginning of the year we talked about the different ecosystems that each pod had.  The children identified where they needed to be with this common language. --Becky Topil, First Grade Teacher

11. Discover, Learn, Play Learning Environment: All shared-use areas, such as Administration, Media Center, Multi-Purpose Gymnasium, and Commons have direct access from each SLC. SLCs include 10 classrooms, a discovery area, restrooms, and an special education suite. The discovery areas, which feature high ceilings to simulate the sky, sun, and foliage, also have a raised platform in the center to encourage interactive and playful learning. A wet zone with sinks and hard surfaces in the discovery area encourages students from multiple classrooms to work on shared projects. The perimeter of the discovery area has decorative tack wall panels in shapes to represent water, ice, desert sand, and trees. Each SLC also includes a Teacher Planning Center to facilitate teacher collaboration in planning curriculum and activities. Mobile technology carts provide teachers the freedom to move resources from room to room.

12. Handprints Learning Environment: Designers incorporated the building’s young users in the design by using photocopies of students’ hands to graphically display the world’s continents on glazing between the media center and entry corridor. The students selected for the handprint display are part of the first class that will travel through the entire school, from first to fifth grade. At each end of the map are inspirational quotes from Dr. Seuss – “Oh the Places You’ll Go!” and “Kid You’ll Move Mountains!” Every where you look there is a teaching moment.  The school is beautiful; it is a point of pride for the students, staff and community. --Jan Irby, Principal

13. Neighborhood Physical Environment - The school is nestled within an existing residential neighborhood and borders a greenway park system. A future district support facility is planned for the site. Pick-up and drop-off loops can accommodate 95 cars at once, all with direct access to sidewalks in front of the school. Outdoor courtyards separate the small learning communities and provide enhanced outdoor learning opportunities for students. Exterior materials include metal panels and face brick.

14. Take a Seat Physical Environment - Textured wall panels and colored etched glass introduce the SLC biome theme, while benches at each entrance allow places for students to interact. A storm shelter able to withstand winds up to 250 mph is located in the middle of the building commons area.FEMA provided funds for 75 percent of the storm shelter costs.

15. Responsible Design Physical Environment – Sustainable Elements Designers oriented classrooms East and West to allow for North/South daylighting opportunities. Natural daylight is drawn into the corridors, discovery areas, media center and commons area. Occupancy sensors and lighting relay panels reduce lighting loads. The HVAC system utilizes a heat pump and conventional chiller for an energy efficient solution. Large volume spaces, such as the gymnasium, commons and media center, are internal to the building, resulting in a more energy efficient solution.

16. Inspiration Planning Process: Seven members of the design team individually researched possible themes for the new Eudora Elementary School over the course of two weeks. They each reviewed past school designs within the firm’s portfolio, read expert articles about how school design enhances the learning environment, and searched for inspiration within their every day surroundings. Together, this group narrowed the options to two possible themes, including unique neighborhoods and ecosystems. They presented the final two possible themes to the Eudora Design Committee (EDC). The EDC comprised a smaller, select group from the Community Advisory Committee, including the District’s Superintendent, School Principal, teachers and other key administrators. I was completely surprised how much the designers really took into consideration what we wanted. It makes me even more excited because I see my ideas actually being used. The designers have done a good job of including us and making sure the design is exactly what we want and what’s going to work with us. -- Emily Sorenson, First Grade Teacher

17. Themes Enhance Learning Planning Process: Designers and the EDC held two brainstorming sessions to determine which theme was more appropriate for young students, as well as creative ways to incorporate the theme into the school. This collaborative process resulted in ecosystems as the overarching theme of the school. Next, designers and the EDC identified the five biomes they felt students could relate to and learn from: Arctic, Aquatic, Desert, Rain Forest and Savanna. Eudora Elementary School’s interior design solution enhances student learning and understanding of geographic regions and climates. The biomes transparently divide the 1,000-student school into five, 200-student elementary schools to encourage student-teacher interaction and small group learning. The key to this concept is the strong interior design which identifies and differentiates each SLC.

18. Floor plan Second Grade SLC Third Grade SLC Administration Media Center Fourth Grade SLC First Grade SLC Gymnasium Fifth Grade SLC Commons Future Addition SLC Kitchen

19. Floor plan Rain Forest: Third Grade Small Learning Community Detail Classrooms Special Education Resource Room SLC Entrance/Exit Classrooms Third Grade SLC Rain Forest Discovery Area Teacher Planning Center Classrooms

20. Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture 2010 Project Data

21. Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture 2010 Project Details