Meadowdale Middle School

This middle school is designed to strengthen students’ awareness of their place within the natural environment, create opportunities for mixing social and educational activities, and support collaboration and self-directed exploration.

Goals are met through the sensitive siting of the building and the creation of a variety of learning settings. The design embraces the site and its topography with minimal disruption: a wooded knoll was preserved and replanted with native plants, while drainage is used to replenish areas of restored habitat and rain gardens. A centrally located commons/library area reinforces the relationship between learning and socialization.

A collaborative and multi-disciplinary curriculum generated an organization based around Personalized Learning Communities, which expand the traditional range of learning settings beyond the classroom. Each consists of a shared learning area, three classrooms, a science room, a learning support room, a small conference room. Overall, the new layout provides a variety of settings for study and team interaction.