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press release New building offers kids environmentally-friendly place to learn Poquoson's new elementary school also allows hands-on teaching in a backyard wetland.
By JENNIFER L. WILLIAMS POQUOSON Who knows how long it might take for everybody to stop looking around, ooh-ing and aah-ing over the brand new facility that is now the biggest building in the city. "Having the students walk into this building on Tuesday makes all the hard work of the last few years worth it," said Principal Jeff Carroll. Light and bright characterize the interior, with natural wood beams overhead evoking boat-like materials and pastel colors signaling water, wetlands and nature. Signs throughout are educational along the same themes, tying in the surrounding geography. Most of the rear wall of the school is glass, with a view of the wetlands and park behind it. There will be a sun dial at the front, with a butterfly-shaped roof to the back that will create a waterfall outside the back windows of the media center when it rains. "Just walking into it — it's beautiful," said third-grade teacher Kristy Vicary, who was last year's teacher of the year at Poquoson Elementary. "It's huge and open, and there are tons of open areas for learning to take place. So everybody's just very excited."
"It's truly the teachers that are going to bring this building alive Sept. 2," Poquoson Schools Superintendent Jennifer Parish said during the ceremony. The 80,000 square foot building includes three pods, each containing a breakout room and 10 classrooms for grades 3, 4 and 5. It also houses additional resource rooms and a full-size gymnasium for student and community use. The gym, cafeteria and media center with its spacious outdoor terrace are all on one end and can be closed off for independent use during non-school hours. The surrounding 22 acres include newly created wetlands that will serve as learning laboratories. They will also be accessible to local citizens via paths from the west after hours and on weekends. "It'll be dramatically different," Carroll said. "And it's going to give my staff some unique instructional opportunities that other places don't have. Breakout areas for group instruction, outdoor classrooms and we're very excited about our location to the wetlands and the bridges that give us access to down there with our science curriculum."
School officials are pursuing a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certificate for the facility. It has already received the James River Green Building Council Go Green Design Merit Award and the Council of Educational Facility Planners International Design Concept Award. "Tuesday will be an exciting day for all the students," Carroll said. "We'll definitely build in some time for excitement and wonder before we get down to the business of learning."
New Poquoson Elementary school
VMDO Architects was founded in 1976 and is the youngest firm to receive the T. David Fitz-Gibbon Virginia Architecture Award, the most prestigious honor given by the Virginia Society of American Institute of Architects. For further information, interview, and photography opportunities in reference to this project and VMDO Architects, please contact William Bishop at 434.296.5684, email at bishop@vmdo.com. |
A ribbon cutting and dedication last Tuesday allowed the first look at the meticulously-designed and thoroughly modern building.
A high-efficiency geothermal heating and cooling system pumps groundwater through a series of underground wells. Other environmentally conscious amenities are natural lighting and integrated dimmer systems, as well as water-conserving plumbing.
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