Holland Heights Elementary has partnered with the Outdoor Discovery Center Education Network to provide students with a nature-based learning experience that will help them learn, read, and grow.The school’s design features extensive outdoor learning spaces, ensuring that students can engage with nature year-round. Each grade-level neighborhood has themes inspired by natural environments—the wetlands, forest, and dunes—and includes extended learning areas connected to the outdoors. The school’s site boasts numerous outdoor learning features, including a spacious playground, soccer field, and a natural hill with stepping walkways.

The building wings create courtyard-like areas with learning circles equipped with power and furniture, and covered areas for outdoor classes and play. The site also features a dry creek bed, which aids in drainage and stormwater management while offering opportunities for water studies and outdoor exploration. The outdoor areas are designed to provide direct views from classrooms, promoting transparency and a seamless connection with nature.

The interior of Holland Heights Elementary was designed with natural light and transparency in mind. Glass elements are used throughout to maintain a bright and open atmosphere. The media center is centrally located, offering visibility in multiple directions within the building. Each neighborhood’s design reflects its nature theme, with specific wall coverings and entrances that enhance the nature-based learning experience.

It was important to the Academy to connect as much of the land and building together as possible. Topography, site vegetation, soils, climate, and watershed analysis provided a strong foundation for building placement and site design to the complement the school’s STEM curriculum. The philosophy of Hydro (water), Terra (land), and Vida (life) all working together in the building concept, through branding and color choices in the design, and its connection to the curriculum was paramount. Grade level groups will be identified throughout the Academy with colors and visuals that evoke the hydro, terra, or vida elements. Extended learning areas and flexible spaces along the main spine will provide a comfortable environment for kids where they can develop and nurture a lifelong love of learning.

Connecting the school building with the land it is being built on means learning can be explored within and outside the classroom. The facility is nestled into an existing ridge line on the property which will allow the scale of the new facility to be reduced. The land can be used as a learning tool for the school and will feature a maple orchard, in coordination with a syrup making class, alongside three watersheds that will inform the school’s watershed study program. Special attention was paid to the water quality and groundwater recharge on site to preserve watershed integrity as well. By immersing students in real-world challenges and applying STEM principles to solve problems, the Academy aims to nurture a generation of creative thinkers and innovators.

Academic Achievements

The new middle school offers students a variety of specialized spaces for a well-rounded educational experience. Classrooms contain modular casework, TVs on mobile carts, and flexible furniture which allows for easy rearranging of teachers and programs as educational needs change throughout the day and in the future. The academic wing is separated from shared resource areas with the cafeteria acting as a central hub in between. Specialized areas include a performing arts theater classroom, shop spaces, an art room, STEM classrooms, science lab with outdoor access, and band, orchestra and choir spaces.

Athletic Excellence

Multiple athletics spaces in the school give Grandville students plenty of opportunity to increase their physical activity and competitive sport pursuits. A large gymnasium with bleachers and an upper track is complemented by an adjacent wrestling and cheer space. The school also features an additional auxiliary gymnasium and a weight room with community access. Outside, middle school-aged students can participate in recreation time on the basketball courts, 40-meter sprint turf, or athletic fields. The main gymnasium, located on the north side of the site, is built into the hillside which minimizes the visual footprint of the facility to keep sight lines desirable for nearby neighborhoods. Placing the building on this location on site also preserves the existing wetland and many of the school’s mature trees. The academics wing faces a wetland area which offers natural views during class time. An outdoor tiered seating area near the wetlands also gives students a chance to learn in an outdoor setting.

The new junior high design is intended to transform the schools’ learning spaces. New extended learning areas throughout with wide corridors and classrooms that are open to those areas will promote collaboration. Updated rooms for STEM/makers space, orchestra and choir, and the health and nutrition class will better support those program needs. A large group instruction room and learning commons near the center of the school will promote the project-based learning happening within the school. A large, open cafeteria will create a secondary space for community and social gatherings of various scales. A learning stair that will give students choice in their learning environment and encourage flexibility and movement will also be added. 

On the school site, stormwater management was corrected with a large underground retention system that alleviates flooding. A new bus loop, parking lots and second entrance for student pick up and drop off will create a more efficient experience for parents, students, and staff. Additionally, athletics improvements will be included in this project. A new running track and turf field will be built, while the softball, baseball and practice fields will be renovated.  

Overall, the district is excited to welcome 8th and 9th grade students into an environment that accommodates individualized learning and addresses the needs of the adolescent learner.