AIA’s annual Honor awards celebrate excellence in local architecture and architectural design by honoring projects completed, individual architects, students, and community leaders for their contributions to the profession. Founded in 1857, AIA is the preeminent professional organization for architects across the country, working to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings, neighborhoods, and communities through the creation and promotion of ethical standards and code of conduct for all members.

Grandville Public Schools needed a new middle school to serve 7^th and 8^th graders to support an influx of students in the district. Grandville has since repurposed the existing middle school into a 5/6 facility as part of a $94 million bond proposal passed by the community. The new, multi-story middle school boasts more than 200,000 square feet of teaching and learning space that is flexible and student focused. The facility’s design also incorporates many methodologies that enhance the social-emotional learning and development of middle school students.

“The design creates intentional collaboration spaces to encourage relationship building and promote learning with hands-on opportunities, which is really important for students at this transitional age,” said Jordan Johnson, project architect with GMB. “There is a place for every student to feel at home here.”

Multiple athletics spaces in the school give Grandville students plenty of opportunity to increase their physical activity and competitive sport pursuits. Most notably, this project included a significant upgrade in facilities for the district’s signature extracurricular robotics program, the Grandville Robodawgs. The robotics arena, the only built-for-purpose robotics competition center in the eastern United States, can host a variety of competitions with seating for up to 2,000 spectators. The adjacent multi-purpose gymnasium space can also convert from hosting traditional sports to becoming a venue for FIRST Robotics Competitions (FRC) and VEX Robotics with multiple competition fields and pits for up to 120 teams.

“This is a game changer for all West Michigan robotics and their programs who can use this top-notch facility to build their programs,” said Roger Bearup, Grandville Public Schools Superintendent.

The Grandville Middle School has been recognized as an award-winning project that will inspire other education leaders by the American School & University Magazine for a 2023 Outstanding Design Award. The project has also been featured in Education Snapshots.

Providing staff with appropriate training and plans for any safety risk — whether that’s a medical emergency, a natural disaster, or an active violence threat — is paramount to success. This should include reaching out to local fire and law-enforcement officials or third-party security consultants to assist in training. Their expert perspectives will provide additional insights and will also allow them to better understand the facility before an emergency hits.    

Beyond physical safety, schools should also be designed to address student’s psychological well-being. For many students, school is a place where they feel most secure, most connected, and most cared for. It can offer an escape from circumstances where they’re not sure when their next meal is coming or if their basic needs will be met. Promoting social-emotional learning through design empowers kids to identify their emotions and develop interpersonal relationship skills with self-advocacy strategies that promote positive conflict resolution. When students are equipped with the skills to recognize their mental health needs, they are more proactive in seeking out resources and can better identify at-risk behaviors in their peers.

Finally, keep in mind that the earlier in the design process these measures are taken, the better. It is easier to embed safety into a building or to make any needed adjustments before any work has begun. Combining security elements specific to each facility with educational best practices will result in safer schools designed to support students and staff. 

Social-emotional learning is an educational method that aims to empower kids to identify their emotions and develop interpersonal relationship skills with self-advocacy strategies that promote positive conflict resolution. When students are equipped with the skills to recognize their mental health needs, they are more proactive in seeking out resources and can better identify at-risk behaviors in their peers. This development can improve student achievement by 11% and can improve a student’s overall attitude towards school. Addressing social and emotional development in schools, alongside their cognitive development, is a natural step in the progression of how schools have changed over the past century. Schools used to be designed to support the work of the 20th century, often repetitive manufacturing jobs that required little creativity or imagination. A teacher would lecture to the students, who largely sat in even rows and columns with little movement or interaction. Now, schools have evolved to become more student centered and encourage the 4 C’s of 21st century learning which include critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication skills.

Launching a district-wide mental health program may seem like an overwhelming undertaking. Grandville’s Superintendent, Roger Bearup, shares the three things districts can do to successfully start the process. First, invest in a research-based mental health program, which is proven to be more effective. Second, the program needs to be easy to follow and should employ simple strategies that can be remembered and impactful. Third, this must be a district-wide roll out that is universal and age-specific. Lesson plans can include an introduction to mental health, decreasing stigma, signs of depression or anxiety, suicide warning signs, personal mental health changes, available resources, risks and protective factors, and an action plan.

“I learned a lot of new strategies and protective factors about depression and that it was all real-world situations. I also told some of my friends that I am here for them if they need help,” said one Grandville Middle School student of the be nice. program.

To make this educational model most effective, school design that focuses on the whole child is paramount. Methodologies for social-emotional learning supported design can include:

• Development of learning communities – Design that breaks down the scale, physically, in the building into smaller groups. This creates familiarity among students and allows them to build a rapport with staff and one another.
• Intentional and unintentional collaborative spaces – Students can come together in small or large groups for meaningful interactions, which enhance relationship building and empathy.
• Sensory for all – We can adopt an attitude that prioritizes sensory elements for all students by creating spaces for de-escalation, being mindful of lights and sounds, and other settings that could distract students from learning. Must also consider that some students need to bring up their energy levels, as opposed to those that need de-escalation.
• Accessibility to counseling – Relocate counselors to a place that is readily accessible and visible to students, to normalize its function and rebrand its purpose.
• Nature rich learning – Actively connect students to the natural environment visually and physically, which promotes physical development, encourages hands-on learning, and enhances emotional well-being.

As school designers we work to create safe and healthy spaces that support teaching and learning, while reinforcing 21^st century skills. When we consider what it means to educate the whole child, it’s easy to see how foundational best practices support cognitive and physical development, but how can we ensure the spaces we create are supporting social and emotional development?

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are constantly being asked why schools should continue to invest in physical learning environments, when the future of education is trending toward virtual instruction. It has become apparent that even though the future will provide abundant ways for us to engage virtually, there is no substitute for human connection. And schools will always be places where students and community members can come together.

We also know that for many at-risk students, the time they spend in school is the best part of their day, and often when they feel the most safety. Whether it is being nurtured by a teacher or connecting with their peers, it is an opportunity for students to cultivate important human connections. For students suffering from food insecurity or mental health issues, schools provide the resources to keep them mentally and physically nourished. In some cases, it may be as simple has having a warm, dry space where they feel a sense of security.

So how should we go about designing spaces that foster social and emotional development? Before we look forward, it is important to consider past practices.

The schools of the last century were designed to support the work of the 20^th century, often repetitive manufacturing jobs that required little creativity or imagination. The teacher possessed all the knowledge and would lecture to the students, who largely sat in even rows and columns with little movement or interaction. Counseling resources may have been available to support college and career readiness, but they were largely out of the way and often somewhat invisible to students. School buildings may have selectively incorporated time-out rooms or de-escalation spaces to support students with behavioral issues.

We have learned over the years that this style of teaching and learning is no longer conducive when it comes to providing the necessary skills for this generation of students in the 21^st century, in order to prepare them for the creative thinking and STEAM jobs of the “new collar” workforce. Schools have evolved to become more student centered, while encouraging skills like critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication. As a result, schools are designed to be more flexible and allow learning to happen in non-traditional learning spaces – corridors, cafeterias, and even outside.

As we have learned more about the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder and sensory processing disorder amongst students, we have begun to see the implementation of sensory elements in schools. These may include sensory pathways, furniture that encourages physical movement, carefully selected colors that provide stimulation or calming effects, controlled acoustics and dimmable lighting with the appropriate color temperatures. These elements have primarily been made available to students with diagnosable conditions and individualized education plans (IEP), but there has been a shift toward making sensory elements available to all students.

We believe that sound planning and design can play an even greater role in educating the whole child. We understand the importance of pervasive technology, flexible furniture, natural daylight and indoor air quality, but this is really just the price of entry when it comes to next generation learning environments. We can and should take it a step further.

• We can design small learning communities that help to break down the larger student population into smaller groups. This creates familiarity and allows students to build a rapport with staff and one another.
• We can intentionally create spaces that allow for meaningful interactions, which enhance relationship building and empathy. Small group spaces promote student collaboration and allow students to receive critical services from educators and specialists, like psychologists and social workers.
• We can physically relocate counselors to a place that is readily accessible and highly visible to students, while still understanding the need for discretion.
• We can adopt an attitude that prioritizes sensory elements for all students.
• We can actively connect students to the natural environment, which promotes physical development, encourages hands-on learning, and enhances emotional well-being.
• We can create spaces that encourage the entire community to gather and participate in educating their children.

We believe that designing schools for the next generation of learners is a significant responsibility and should be done through the lens of educating the whole child. We are not only training students for the next phase of their lives, but most importantly, we’re preparing them to be responsible citizens who can positively impact their communities.