Community Schools

“We define ‘community’ as including families (parents/caregivers and students), educators, local leaders, and other important groups with bonds defined by locality (neighborhoods, towns), cultural affinity, or shared beliefs, concerns, or passions.” (Picucci & Nitken, 2022)

Community schools

• can meet the needs of both learners and the community by sharing resources and supporting real-world learning.

• are partnerships can be a driver of innovation and inspiration.

• allow communities to define learning experiences that reflect community values

Examples:

King Open/Cambridge Street Upper Schools & Community Complex

The project’s fundamental design intent was to provide a safe, inclusive, and equitable environment for young people and the surrounding neighborhood. The result blends two schools with community programs into a single complex, including outdoor resources such as a reading garden, bocce court, five playgrounds, swimming pool, civic plaza, and interior spaces like the public library, auditorium, cafeteria, and gymnasiums. The massing allows the community spaces to be available for after-hours and weekend use. The building’s varied program means many things to many people—a school, daycare, public library, pools, school district administration, and community center. Investing in a project that serves so broad a range of the community’s needs reflects respect for equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Charles R. Drew Charter School & YMCA Building

State-of-the-Art Charter Education - With a planned full-time enrollment of over 800 students in grades K-8, this two-story, 104,985 SF elementary school shares facilities with the 60,000 SF East Lake YMCA composed in a uniform expression for both facilities. This award-winning project was the first charter school in the Atlanta school system. It contains twenty-eight classrooms, a media center, a kitchen/cafetorium, laboratories (for science, art and reading), band rooms, music training rooms, and administrative offices.