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Contact the Clark Montessori School Planning Team |
|
Charles Alexander Clark LSDMC - Chair alexcama@fuse.net |
Robin Brandon CPS Project Coordinator brandor@cps-k12.org |
Design Phase Nearly Complete for
Clark Montessori's New Building
!
Cincinnati Public Schools and the Clark Montessori School Planning Team
(SPT) have all nearly completed design of the new Clark Montessori school building that will serve the school's needs and blend well with the quality of the neighborhood.
The qualities of a Montessori environment will be reflected throughout the new building, including green space outside - and as part of the roof of the building - as well as being a good neighbor to the people who live around us.
The new building as currently laid out will be one, two and three stories tall in different places and will feature a full-sized gymnasium and "cafetorium" on the first floor. Also on the first floor will be the music, art, languages and Special Education departments.
The high school and junior high will each occupy their own floor.
These are a few of the features we dearly look forward to having in the new building...
~ centralized high school and junior high classes
~ green roof which greatly enhances Clark's environmental education curriculum
~ state of the art science classrooms
~ natural lighting and excellent indoor air quality
~ quieter classrooms due to better noise management
~ beautiful outdoor space for students to have lunch as well as outdoor
classrooms
Most of the natural features on the property will be retained.
Many other environmental efforts are being made. Stormwater will be retained on site using stormwater management practices approved by MSD. Part of the roof of the new building will be covered with grass.
Indeed, the new building is designed
to blend in with its natural environment to a very large degree and will be Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) Silver Certified.
As of November 2009, plans are set for completion of the building in time for Clark Montessori to return home for the 2011-2012 school year!
WE CAN'T WAIT!!!
The Clark Montessori School Planning Team
Clark Montessori School Planning Team is made up of Clark teachers, administrators and parents, CPS Facilities staff , the professional architects of Glaserworks Architecture and Urban Design and members of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Council.
As of November 2009, the Design Team has been meeting for about two years.
According to the CPS Facilities Master Plan, the original idea for Clark Montessori was to renovate the existing building at the 3030 Erie Avenue site. However, during the renovation assessment process, it quickly became clear that renovation would cost more than designing and building a brand new building!
With this the decision was made to scrap plans for renovation and work on designing a new Clark Montessori building was begun in earnest.
The architects for the new building are Glaserworks Architecture and Urban Design of Cincinnati, Ohio. Glaserworks has been involved in a number of CPS Facilities Master Plan projects. They are also the architects of many notable Cincinnati buildings.
You can visit the Glaserworks website at the link below...
Close the new window or tab to return here..
The New Building! (Click the link to the left...)
Glaserworks Architecture and Urban Design, the technical designers of our new building, produce thorough reports of the progress of the design of our new building and the different influences that go into that process.
Reading through the latest report, linked at the image to the left, will give a VERY good understanding of the design progress and where the design stands at the current time.
The
REALLY good news is that the design process is pretty much finished!
The PDF linked at the left is a big one -
over 58mb, you may have to give it a short time to load. Below the link are some images of how the new building will look taken from the PDF. Check it out!
"The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for our nation through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. USGBC works toward its mission of market transformation through its LEED green building certification program, robust educational offerings, a nationwide network of chapters and affiliates, the annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, and advocacy in support of public policy that encourages and enables green buildings and communities."
Mission Statement - The United States Green Builing Council
The new Clark Montessori school building will be LEED "Silver" Certified!
Have a look at the USGBC website HERE.
To see how the USGBC Green School Buildings campaign works, click HERE.
LEED "Silver" Certification
Linked below is a 108-page PDF on how new or renovated school buildings earn different levels of LEED certifications.
If the document is long, the process for LEED certification is actually fairly simple and there is some very interesting reading here. In fact, understanding this document will provide a fairly good basic education about how human constructions affect the natural environment and how new ways of designing buildings can be much more environmentally benign.
As an overview, the rating process uses seven performance standards for construction, building materials and building features. Each performance standard contains several different facets. If a particular facet is properly featured in the new building, a number of points is earned. The total number of points determines a building's level of certification.
The seven categories are Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Innovation in Design and Regional Priority.
We believe understanding the LEED process will be fascinating and rewarding and the LEED certification is something to be proud of in our new building!
LEED 2009 for Schools New Construction and Major Renovations
" 'USGBC' and related logo is a trademark owned by the U.S. Green Building Council and is used by permission."