West Shore School District Intermediate Schools

Form Meets Function: Educational Design for a District’s Evolving Needs

Creative design combined with a collaborative effort from architects, interior designers and the West Shore School District resulted in a pair of intermediate schools that complement curricula while inspiring students and educators.

Photo Credit: Nathan Cox Photography

New Intermediate Schools to Meet District and Student Needs

After completing a district-wide feasibility study in 2016, the West Shore School District moved forward with its plan to create two intermediate school buildings to balance enrollment at buildings across the District and best serve its students. Fairview and Old Trail Intermediate Schools enabled the District to move forward with both its educational and overall long-term goals:

reduce enrollment growth and overcrowding at the elementary school level
create a fifth/sixth-grade model for the District
eliminate a third middle school
align the District’s sending areas with its two high schools.

To serve the entire District, Administrators carefully considered the location of each school. They chose to locate Fairview Intermediate School in the northern part of the District, while Old Trail Intermediate School is situated to serve students in the south. The school buildings are a mirror image of each other and contain the same building program elements. This allows the District to deliver curriculum to fifth- and sixth-grade students in the same manner.

At Fairview Intermediate, the site dictated that the building nestle into the hillside. This configuration provided a lower level for the additional story of classrooms. While at Old Trail Intermediate, the flat greenfield of the site allowed the extra level of classrooms to ascend.

Project Highlights

Client:
West Shore School District

Location:
Etters, PA

Services:
Architecture

Interior Design

Construction Administration

Type:
K-12 Education

Intermediate School

New Construction

Hallway of an intermediate school featuring bold graphic wayfinding indicating the location of the gym.

Distinctive Graphics Lead the Way

Interior Wayfinding

The interiors of both intermediate schools feature similar graphical designs and patterning while having distinct color palettes that assist with wayfinding. Wayfinding is especially important as this is the first time students will come together in a larger building after attending the District’s community-based elementary schools including Rossmoyne Elementary School.

Students are led through the building by colorful and fun graphic panels that denote where the gym, art, music, learning commons, and cafeteria are located. Fruit and vegetables denote the cafeteria, athletic graphics mark the gym, musical notes highlight the music/band area and a watercolor design designates the art room.

Intermediate school art and maker space with students at desks.

Design That Complements Curriculum

Future-Ready Learning

Each grade is assigned a wing of the building, and the same building components and layouts are found on each floor. The overall design includes classrooms with centralized LGI rooms used for collaboration, group work and STEM instruction. Both schools have an outdoor learning courtyard located between the classroom wings and is accessible from the central core of the building. The courtyard learning space supports the water cycle curriculum and includes raised planting beds and a covered outdoor classroom with a pavilion that features solar panels.

Both intermediate buildings offer community amenities and support spaces on the “main” floor, level with parking and bus access. Community-use spaces such as the cafeteria, gymnasium and learning commons are all located at the core of the building. These areas are away from the classroom wings and can be restricted for after-hours use. This safety measure keeps visitor and community access limited to the public spaces.

Old Trail intermediate school with cafeteria divider down and chorus group practicing on tiered steps.

Old Trail Intermediate School with cafeteria divider open and chorus group practicing on tiered steps.

Before

After

To meet the needs of their growing music program, the District opted for a versatile Cafeteria and Multi-Purpose room separated by large overhead doors. In the morning, the doors are closed so that the chorus can use the space's built-in risers to practice. Later, the overhead doors open and allow movement through the large space to accommodate all students for lunch.