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Mountain Green Elementary School
Mountain Green Elementary School Located in the scenic Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains, Mountain Green Elementary School reflects the grandeur of its surroundings through the use of trestle-wood and a rugged exterior. The planning process for Mountain Green began when the school board determined the need for a new elementary facility in the district. Mainly because the District had not built a new elementary school for over 30 years, school board members kicked off the process by touring schools located in the region that shared a similar occupant size. It quickly became clear to the Board that they were interested in promoting a design that would be sustainable for the next 70 years, (minimum). This translated to the idea of a design that would enhance collaboration, encourage project-based curriculum, and facilitate interactive learning in a variety of styles. The School Board selected an architect, and a composed a design committee of teachers, administrators, maintenance personnel and students to work with them. The resulting design has a number of unique characteristics. The school organizes Kindergarten through fifth-grade classrooms into three intimate small learning communities (SLCs). Grades K-1 are grouped together, while the other two wings are flexible, accommodating either two grade levels each, or mini-schools of four grade levels per SLC. Easily supervised, pleasantly day lit collaboration centers located at the heart each of these Learning Communities support project-based curriculum by accommodating multiple, flexible group activities. This flexible open space is surrounded by classrooms, which are connected through significant fenestration to the collab areas. Within each SLC is a student restroom, located on the way to the playground outside. Each community also includes a teacher workroom, open to the collaboration space through glazing, a specialist office, a large teacher storage room, and a teacher restroom. Mountain Green’s four wings are color coded and named for the four seasons, enhancing way-finding within the facility, and creating an identity for the students within each individual area. Each classroom door has an icon etched on the glass for further student differentiation - icons in the green “Spring” community are represented by different flowers, the golden “Summer” community features different fruits and vegetables, the blue “Winter” community utilizes a different snowflake for every classroom, and the red “Autumn” wing is comprised by the library, administration, and multi-purpose areas, symbolized by different leaf icons. Teachers at the only other elementary school in the District were intimately involved in the design of the overall concept for the plan, and the design of the typical teaching spaces as well. They described the types of needs and activities that they envisioned taking place within the classroom and collaboration areas, and these rooms were designed to accommodate those functions. One interesting outcome of the faculty participation was the move of the single stall kindergarten restrooms from their traditional place inside the kindergarten rooms, to a group restroom facility inside the SLC. Teachers discussed the idea that a single restroom in each kinder classroom had a very limited use – further, the idea that if the group restroom was located inside the SLC, that the youngsters would be unafraid to visit these rooms on their own. Post occupancy comments have completely justified this decision. Another very unique and very successful feature of the school is the “Gathering Space” located between the two upper grade SLC’s. A group of students will gather here before and after school to socialize, meet, or just ‘hang out’ together—Instructors bring groups to learn in this pleasant space on the way to and from the library, pausing for discussion of various topics—students use the space to practice songs and recitations of, for example, the Declaration of Independence. Early in the design process, it became clear that although the District could not afford to pursue LEED certification, they were very interested in a sustainable design for this project. Sustainable design features included in the design of the school include use of a day lighting of all learning spaces with a proper solar orientation for the classrooms, (including shading devices on the south facing rooms), multi-level lighting and motion detectors within the classrooms, locally-produced concrete block building materials, high performance glazing, and reclaimed trestle wood. Trestle wood is a local resource – wood that was utilized for train trestles over 100 years ago, then abandoned under a salt water sea – the wood, which has become completely impregnated with salt, is now being reclaimed, and was utilized in this project to provide a low-maintenance and visually contextual accent material. Additionally, the facility utilizes a sustainable ground-source mechanical system. The exterior learning spaces were also carefully designed and executed. The Winter and Spring wings bracket an outdoor classroom that is divided into four learning zones:
In a community as small as Mountain Green, the idea of the school as a center of community was a given. The real estate developer of the community was a benevolent and interested contributor to the project, including the funding of an upgrade to the Multi-Purpose Room flooring which provides a more comfortable alternative to what the project could otherwise have afforded. Further, the District programmed this room to be large enough to hold a full basketball court in order to accommodate community activities. The plan was designed to provide the ability to physically separate the day lit Multi-Purpose Room and public restrooms from the remainder of the school, or similarly, the separation of the Media Center and administration areas from the remainder of the school for after hours community events. Visitors to the school are greeted by the Media Center and administrative offices which bracket the prominent front entry. These spaces feature large expanses of glass to take advantage of the stunning view to the valley below the school. The community has embraced this facility, utilizing it in all aspects as their personal school and the heart of their community. Project Description:
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