Illinois District Completes $111M Capital Improvement Project

The Berkeley School District in Berkeley, Ill., recently announced the completion of a $111-million Capital Improvement project with the grand opening of a renovation and addition at Riley Intermediate and Northlake Middle Schools, according to a news release. The district partnered with Wold Architects and Engineers for a series of projects designed to increase student agency and transparency across the district’s learning environments.

The Riley/Northlake project features a new addition that creates a link between the two school buildings. Renovations include shared program spaces, grade-appropriate areas for STEM classes, and a new media center and learning commons.

“We are thrilled to improve the educational environments for our students across the district with these upgrades and new schools,” said Berkeley School District Superintendent Dr. Dan Sullivan. “With the completion of the Riley Intermediate and Northlake Middle Schools project, we’re now able to offer exciting learning environments and significant improvements across the district to create safer, more accessible and more efficient learning spaces for all students in the Berkeley District community for decades to come.”

The full slate of projects included a new construction to house students from Sunnyside Intermediate and MacArthur Middle Schools; site improvements to Jefferson Primary School; health and life safety updates to Jefferson and Whittier Primary Schools; and the addition and renovation project at Riley Intermediate and Northlake Middle Schools to blend them into a unified campus.

“We are honored to be a part of this project and are grateful for our ongoing partnership with the Berkeley School District,” said Dan Kritta, AIA, LEED AP, partner at Wold Architects and Engineers. “As a local firm, we pride ourselves on supporting the communities in which we live and work, and we’re thrilled to have supported the district over the past few years as it’s worked to improve the lives and futures of every student in the community.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Designing Learning Spaces that Support Student Mental Health and Wellness

    In today’s education landscape, schools are more than just centers for learning; they are integral to the holistic development and well-being of students. The global pandemic underscored the importance of addressing mental health in schools, as productivity dropped, stress levels rose and students faced challenges managing emotions.

  • The Role of Unified Communications in Hyflex Education

    Academic technology and pedagogy have evolved in ways few could have imagined a decade ago. Today, hybrid/flexible (or hyflex) learning environments — a mix of in-person and remote instruction — are the new normal. However, as promising as it sounds, making hyflex work smoothly is no small feat.

  • Rush-Henrietta Central School District’s Sperry High School

    A New Perspective: Using Adaptive Reuse Concepts in K-12 Planning

    In the face of increasing pressures on construction timelines, budgets, and material availability, the renovation and reuse of pre-existing structures for new purposes can help bridge the gap between modern school programming and outdated school infrastructure.

  • modern college building with circuit and brain motifs

    Anthropic Introduces Claude for Education

    Anthropic has launched a version of its Claude AI assistant tailored for higher education institutions. Claude for Education "gives academic institutions secure, reliable AI access for their entire community," the company said, to enable colleges and universities to develop and implement AI-enabled approaches across teaching, learning, and administration.

Digital Edition