Projects
Rossmoyne Elementary School
Mechanicsburg, PA
Rossmoyne Elementary is the first school to be built following the completion of the feasibility study for West Shore School District. Rossmoyne is a new elementary school built beside the previous 1950s-era school. The existing building was demolished upon completion of the new larger Kindergarten through Fourth grade elementary school. The new building includes a robust technology infrastructure with wireless internet access throughout the building for the latest classroom visualization and 21st Century learning needs.
Community Connections
The new building includes enlarged and updated spaces which enhance the day-to-day educational activities in the school. Several of these spaces were also designed with community functions in mind. These areas reinforce the intent to provide the District and its residents with schools that are active and connected to the community.
School Safety
Measures to provide enhanced security for students, staff, and visitors include controlled building access points, a secure entrance vestibule adjacent to the new administration suite and cross-corridor doors that can separate community functions from the classroom areas of the building. The site includes separate drop-off areas for parents and busses. These separate traffic loops improve safety by segregating the busses from other vehicular traffic.
Daylighting
All classrooms have lower window sills allowing students to see outside. The larger windows bring more daylight into the classrooms. These windows play a large role in lighting the classrooms, as all classrooms have natural light instead of solely relying on artificial lighting.
Building Organization
The building is divided into two levels within the classroom wing; shared common spaces, such as the library, administration areas and nurse suite are located on the first floor. The gymnasium doubles as the auditorium and has an integrated stage. The First through Fourth grade classrooms are organized in stacked two-story classroom wings. The First and Second Grade are on the first floor located directly below Third and Fourth Grade. Large and small group instruction areas are incorporated into the classroom wings. Art, Music, STEAM, Guidance, and the Learning Commons are all located in the main connecting areas of the building.
The West Shore School District’s Director of Operations and Planning and Rossmoyne Elementary School’s principal sat down with RLPS Project Manager, Erin Hoffman, ALEP. They discuss what went into creating a flexible, future-ready elementary school and some of the building’s key features.
Logos Academy
York, PA
New Upper School and Community Spaces
Logos Academy, an independent, Christ-centered school in York, Pennsylvania, started with 14 kindergarten and first-grade students. It has since grown to welcome approximately 275 students and their families regardless of faith or financial capacity in grades K-12. With the program growth including grades 9-12, Logos Academy needs a new, larger home for its Upper School as well as additional campus amenities for its growing community. Through renovations and additions on an adjacent building site, Logos Academy will have an expanded campus that will have the ability to house up to 200 additional students, along with community spaces to support the diverse downtown community which surrounds it.
The expansion will provide much-needed space for high school instruction, as well as the health and physical education program for K-12 students, and community space for events and meetings. Logos Academy will gain instructional space for visual arts, a fully equipped science lab, and additional office spaces. Furthermore, 10 classrooms will be returned to the original K-8 facility, allowing the Lower School to serve more students.
Finding Space for 200 High School Age Students in an Urban Setting
Bounded by public roads and urban infrastructure, the new home for the upper school and community spaces is right across the street from the Logos Academy lower school. The design concept had to work within a limited footprint to provide an engaging learning environment. Care was also given so that the new building expanded Logos Academy’s existing campus and respected the surrounding community fabric.
Previously, the buildings on the adjacent site housed a former YMCA gymnastics program, warehouse space, a gas station, and a Cadillac car dealership. This dealership was built in the 1930s with a distinctive Art Deco showroom facade, one of the last surviving building facades of this style in downtown York. Logos Academy intends to salvage this historic showroom architecture transforming the space into a central gathering space for its campus and outside community groups.
Creating Contemporary Learning Spaces in Historic Structures
Through renovation and new construction, Logos Academy will breath new life into this urban property. When completed, the historic building will house new classrooms, a fully equipped science lab and creator space along with a new academic support office space. New portions of the building will include a full-size gymnasium, gallery and a student café which will flow through operable doors into an outdoor urban garden.
The classroom areas within the historic building will house a fully equipped science lab and creator space as well as academic classrooms. These spaces will be oriented around a sky-lit, central student forum space which will allow incidental collaboration between students and their professors. The classrooms will be flexible with movable walls and visual connections to the central forum. The classroom design is driven by Logos Academy’s commitment to a classical education model with features such as Harkness tables incorporated into the design.
Maintaining Connections with York City
Because Logos Academy is located in downtown York, PA, the design reflects the academy’s commitment to the urban community and the activities expected to take place on the expanded campus. To serve as a downtown resource, specific public-use spaces include the gallery, community room, gymnasium, café and urban garden. This connection, as well as student and staff safety, was key in designing the school with appropriate adjacencies and access. The classroom wing within the historical building, where students spend most of their time, has the ability to be separated from public functions which may be taking place in the community areas of the building.
Assisting with Innovative Funding Sources and City Approvals
The RLPS team is working with multiple project partners to pursue funding to make Logos Academy’s vision a reality. Potential funding sources include the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program, a Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant, a York County Community Foundation Sustainability Grant, and a grant from the York County Land Bank Authority. RLPS is also committed to develop project specifications that support the Logos Academy Equity Management Plan.
We provided concept renderings for Logos Academy’s Capitol Campaign for the project. These renderings will also be used in presentations to the City of York’s Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB) since the project site is located within a downtown historic district. The renderings will assist in highlighting the art deco façade of the former Cadillac Dealership and illustrate how the renovations and additions blend seamlessly into the surrounding downtown fabric.
AIA Central Pennsylvania – Design Excellence Award of Merit & Good Design is Good Business Award
Annville-Cleona Secondary School
Annville, PA
This new building includes 48 classrooms with a separate wing for middle school students, and features a media center, music suite, industrial technology education suite, a 1,000-seat auditorium and cafeteria with a scatter, food court style serving area. A three-station gymnasium with approximately 1,200 seating capacity, team rooms, locker rooms and a weight room are also included. The design includes wireless computer technology throughout the building. The new building was oriented on the site to allow construction to occur while the existing building remained intact.
Photo Credit: Larry Lefever Photography
Lititz Elementary
Lititz, PA
Building a new elementary school on the existing 2.5 acre site in downtown Lititz required extensive coordination between the design team, school board officials, the district’s buildings and grounds committee, a site research committee and a public residents’ committee as well as a number of local authorities. The design for the new, three-story K-6 school preserves the historic downtown area while blending with the surrounding neighborhood residences. Despite the site constraints, the compact design solution achieves the district’s programming objectives with modern amenities and spacious facilities, incorporating flexible, multi-purpose areas to maximize available space.
Award: Smart Growth Leadership Award; Lancaster County Planning Commission; Lancaster, PA
Photo Credit: Larry Lefever Photography
Southeast Middle School
Lancaster, PA
One of seven middle-secondary urban schools, Hand was originally built in 1924 and expanded in 1927. The District identified Southeast as a “turn-around” school prompting much needed changes to programming and infrastructure. The interior was demolished down to the structural frame for major system and infrastructure replacement and the historic exterior facade included replacement of windows, doors and roofing. The design captures roof stormwater and diverts it from an overburdened combined storm and sanitary system. The project was partly funded by federal grants promoting sustainable initiatives and the development of Science and Technology curriculum.
Award: LEED Silver Certification
Photo Credit: Larry Lefever Photography
Elizabeth Martin School
Lancaster, PA
Replacement School with New K – 8 Configuration
This new school, located in a dense, working-class residential neighborhood in Lancaster city, replaces the 1950s era school for kindergarten through 5th grade students. The new K-8 configuration will help ease overcrowding at one of the middle schools and will serve as a model if the District decides to convert other schools to K-8 configurations in the future. The new school was constructed behind the old building, which was subsequently razed to allow for better traffic flow and additional parking.
Breaking Down the Scale of the Building
The new Elizabeth Martin School has three classrooms per grade including one dedicated special education classroom per grade. The new building is divided into two levels within the classroom wing, with shared commons spaces, such as the library, administration areas and nurse suite located on the upper level at the main, controlled entrance.
The kindergarten classrooms are paired to share a common area for teacher storage and student bathrooms with fixtures designed for smaller children. The 1st through 8th grade classrooms are arranged on two floors, with the younger grades on the first floor. Two music and two art classrooms are located in the main spines connecting the classroom wings.
Flexible Spaces for Multi-Use Practicality
Flexible learning spaces, furniture solutions and building-wide WiFi support continually evolving teaching practices. The cafeterias for 1st through 5th grade and 6th through 8th grade are separated by a folding partition wall. When opened, this space can function as a large group area. The main gymnasium will double as the auditorium. A second fitness area is provided to accommodate additional space needs for physical education classes.
LEED Silver Certified
The project, which earned LEED silver certification from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), is partly funded by federal grants promoting sustainable initiatives. Sustainable design features include motion senors for lights, low flow plumbing fixtures and daylighting in all classrooms. Throughout the building, lower window sills and larger windows were utilized to promote daylight and outdoor connections.
Award: American School & University 2015 Architectural Portfolio, Outstanding Design Combined Level School
Photo Credit: Nathan Cox Photography
Lingle Avenue Elementary
Palmyra, PA
This new K–5 elementary school includes a kindergarten center serving the entire district. Set up as a “school within a school,” it consists of two single-story, eight-classroom pods with shared spaces connecting the pods including a multi-purpose room and kitchen serving area. The two-story primary grade wing and kindergarten center are connected with shared spaces including a library and “cafetorium.” The building has a geothermal system for heating and cooling and features bamboo flooring in the gymnasium.
Award: LEED Silver Certification
Photo Credit: Larry Lefever Photography