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School No. 52 This Early Childhood Center (ECC)is a new, 1-story pre-kindergarten facility designed for 300 pupils and developed on an accelerated basis. The groundbreaking for the ECC was held on December 4, 2003. The school opened in August 2005. Students enter the facility from the bus or automobile drop-off point through a columned portico and entrance cupola. The cupola marks a specially designed round lobby that emphasizes the student's arrival at a special place. The ECC also contains 20 classrooms, each designed for a class of 15 children. The classrooms are designed in pairs, with each pair sharing a Small Group Instruction room. Other building elements in the 55,000 square-foot school include a large high-ceiling multipurpose room with a platform stage for group activities, plays, and indoor physical activities; two specially-designed, privacy-protected outdoor play areas with soft, colorful, resilient surfaces; a separate garden/reading area; a practice kitchen; a kitchen for final preparation of lunches, and offices, conference rooms, and administration support spaces. All but 6 of the classrooms have direct access to four play areas. (Access from the other classrooms is through the main circulation hallway.) At the discretion of the District, the multi-purpose rooms can be used by the community. Every element of the school is child-scaled, and the design features bright colors, easily recognizable garden, animal, and block symbols, and abstract patterns that keep the spaces lively. The patterns and symbols identify areas of the building and can also be used to organize activities. The textures of the brick and block in the entrance portico and cupola areas, in particular, were specially selected with the knowledge that children like to touch their environment. The ECC site formerly housed two small, single-story buildings that were demolished to make room for the new building. HACBM Architects designed the project that was contructed by Turner Construction Company. |