Architects created a schematic layout for the new College Park Elementary School based on a prototype, but specific design details could be up to the school’s students.
The New Hanover County Board of Education voted unanimously Jan. 5 to approve LS3P Associates’ schematic design for the elementary school’s new facility, one of the major construction projects voters authorized when they passed the $160 million school bond in 2014. The existing school will be demolished and the new facility constructed in its place.
The board liked the prototype, which is based on Castle Hayne Elementary School and includes two floors and 28 classrooms. But some members, especially Lisa Estep, felt the school should have its own character, created by color and design choices made by the school’s students.
LS3P architect Leanne Lawrence should guide the students in their choices, board member Tammy Covil added, because “we don’t want neon pink.”
Being part of the process would both educate and inspire the students, board members agreed.
“There is a science to color in terms of what it evokes,”Covil said. “[Deciding] what kind of tone they want to set from the time they walk in the building.”
“It gives them ownership of their school,” Estep added. “Twenty years from now they can drive by and say, ‘Hey, I helped pick out the paint colors for that school.”
It could also awaken students’ interest in architecture, board members said, and Lawrence agreed.
“Absolutely, we want to inspire the students to dream big,” she said.
Although LS3P architects based College Park’s design on the Castle Hayne prototype, they had to adapt to the location’s uneven terrain. The school will be built on the highest portion of land, Lawrence explained, and a retention pond will capture stormwater at the lowest point of the property.
By adapting the design to the terrain, New Hanover County Schools Superintendent Dr. Tim Markley said, the architects mitigated extra construction work as much as possible.
“I think they did a great job of that,” he said.
Career and Technical Education school plan approved
New Hanover County’s school board unanimously approved plans for a non-traditional high school with emphasis on career readiness Jan. 5. Students enrolled in the school will graduate with both a high school diploma and a National Career Readiness Certificate, which Markley called “a certificate that they can take and turn into employment.”
The CTE school’s classes will be held at Cape Fear Community College’s north campus and New Hanover County and Pender County students will be eligible to enroll.
The proposed curriculum blends core classes with career preparation like internships, job shadowing and project-based learning. School advisors would help eighth and ninth graders develop a career pathway based on their learning style, aptitude and interests.
The school offers teenagers collegiate opportunities like exploring career paths without the cost of college tuition, career technical education supervisor Laverne Pickett said. She listed plumbing, HVAC repair, auto body repair and network engineering as examples of career paths students could pursue.
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