Littlestown Area School District wanted to bolster their central campus by providing shared resources through a new combined secondary school. They also wanted to expand early childhood education programming.
By upgrading facilities to be equitable for all, the District hoped to prepare students for life in the 21st century. A district-wide feasibility study was the first step towards realizing their objectives. It also provided a firm plan for moving forward. The feasibility study assessed the District’s school buildings: one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school. The facilities evaluated a total of 440,000+ SF on over 114 acres of property and serve approximately 2,200 students.
From the outset, the Design Team and School District directly engaged the Littlestown community as a part of the feasibility study.
A community survey, focus group sessions and staff discussions aided information gathering. Enrollment projection analysis, building capacity evaluation, assessment of the existing facilities, and Steering Committee input in addition to the community feedback were used in compiling the study.
The assessment indicated that the middle school required numerous improvements to meet current facility and educational needs while the high school had additional capacity available for curriculum use but needed renovations typical for a building of its age.
Seven options developed for District review included a mix of architectural scenarios:
The option chosen was a “new” Secondary School which combined the middle school and high school in the existing high school building. The renovations included learning spaces, athletics and new parking and drop-off areas.
Along with updating their learning spaces, the District collaborated with RLPS to reimagine the secondary school’s athletic spaces. A new 5,250 sq ft multi-purpose facility was designed and strategically located adjacent to Thunderbolt Stadium. This new space not only provides an area for physical education classes but also provides student athletes a place to practice and play on an indoor sports surface year round.
The plan includes additions and renovations to the existing high school building to create a new secondary school. Once the secondary school updates are complete, the middle school building will be used in a different capacity.
