Black Rock Furniture

Black Rock is a unique school, and its furniture expresses its modern style. Instead of seats and desks found in traditional classrooms, Black Rock sports flexible seating, shared tables, and Smart Boards. Is this going to be the new norm? The thing about this type of furniture is that some people adore it-and some people prefer the classic classroom. But there is a valid reason why designers chose this design. It is extremely appealing, but there is a reason below the surface of why Black Rock uses flexible furniture.

This style of furniture dives way deeper than just design. In fact, it’s not just a style, it’s a philosophy. Mrs. Stout generously lent me some time for an interview about why this furniture was chosen. She said that originally, school was meant for young white boys. They used traditional classroom furniture, learning things like how to craft wood. People were just starting to mass produce, and factories were starting to be built. The boys would graduate and work in factories, getting good at doing the same thing over and over again. That’s when the concept of public school started to emerge. Schools became more diverse. But still, students were not being taught how to think creatively and put problem solving into their everyday lives, which essentialness was just recently acknowledged in the world of public schools. An important figure in this new concept is Prakash Nair, an architect. Nair designed several new schools in New York for highschoolers. Nair went with the traditional classroom design. But, he realized the highschoolers didn’t have a collaborative classroom, and then asked the question: how much does a student’s learning environment impact their learning? Nair reached out to brain scientists and asked for input on the effects of a more open classroom. The research of this is little, but promising. Here is another article on how a more variable classroom can benefit learning: https://www.edutopia.org/article/flexible-classrooms-research-scarce-pro

Mrs. Stout shared that her husband engineers conveyor belts, and the company Peeps uses them. When trouble arose about the appearance of the Peeps, Mr. Stout installed a camera inside of the conveyor belt to see what was going on. That is a great example of problem solving. So Black Rock tried to embrace these 4 things: creativity, communication, critical thinking, and collaboration. These things are displayed all over Black Rock whether it’s working on a project together in a nest, or moving around furniture to make a breakoff reading group. Black Rock is the ultimate open air space for a fresh kind of learning to the Lower Merion School District.