Brand New Sunnycrest and Lakeland Buildings to Open for Students This Fall
While most students are gearing up for the start of school with new supplies, new teachers and new classmates, Sunnycrest and Lakeland students have something extra to look forward to – the start of school in a brand new building.
Like the new elementary schools built before them, Sunnycrest and Lakeland were designed to be inviting and inspiring for the children who will occupy them. Abundant windows are strategically placed to allow the most light in and the ceilings are white to make the rooms appear brighter.
Sunnycrest was designed with a nature theme and is painted in brilliant shades of green. Ceiling tiles and flooring are wavy and flowing like a river. Noah Greenberg, principal architect with DLR Group, said Sunnycrest is like a Greek village on top of a hill. Windows overlook wetlands and a wooded area that will one day become a City of Kent park.
At Lakeland, the theme is cubes and bold blocks of bright colors. “They’re there as imaginative vehicles for children. Maybe the kids are going to see them like castles,” he said. “The meaning is defined by the occupant as they discover it.”
Greenberg said he hopes the playful designs at the schools encourage students to imagine and discover. The sites were also designed to be welcoming to the community, with paths leading onto the campus and trails through and around the schools.
Students and staff at Sunnycrest and Lakeland will enjoy a variety of new features:
- An abundance of strategically placed windows throughout the schools allow in natural light – which research shows helps students learn.
- Classrooms measuring 900 square feet give teachers a comfortable space to provide multiple learning centers, such as a reading corner, in the rooms.
- Long hallways were replaced with clusters of classrooms, allowing teachers and students to collaborate and work in teams.
- Bathroom facilities are easier to reach than in the old buildings.
- Small instructional areas are available throughout the schools. Because they are nestled in private areas, they are perfect for intervention and personal, safe and healthy contact for staff and teachers.
- Wireless carts serve as mobile technology centers and allow easy transport of computers and equipment from room to room.
- There is additional storage in the new schools.
- The new schools provide higher capacity fiber optic cabling and conduits to run wires through cleanly. The conduits will allow faster and more efficient future technology upgrades.
- Students and staff will be safer in the new buildings in the event of an earthquake because of additional earthquake resistance features.
- As required by the Washington Sustainable Schools Protocol, the schools do not have wall-to-wall carpeting, which can contribute to asthma and upper respiratory infections among school children because of reduced air quality caused by dust accumulation and harsh chemicals used to clean the carpets. Instead, each classroom has concrete floors with radiant heat. Each room also has four six-by-six foot carpet squares to use as the teacher chooses. The carpet squares can be removed and cleaned off-site as needed.
Background
Lakeland and Sunnycrest were rebuilt with funds from a $149 million construction bond measure passed by voters in 2007 to rebuild old and deteriorating schools. The bond also paid to rebuild Lakota Middle School and Valhalla and Panther Lake elementary schools. Construction is ongoing at the district’s new central kitchen, transportation and maintenance facilities, also paid for by the bond. Twenty-three schools and Memorial Field are getting important upgrades thanks to the approximately $20 million in state match grants triggered by the bond’s passage. In fact, all district facilities built before 1990, except for Federal Way High School and the district’s central offices (ESC), will receive high-priority repairs and upgrades such as roofs, heating systems and new plumbing and wiring.
Posted: August 30, 2011