School Celebrates Grand Opening

The Bancroft School in Mount Laurel, N.J., celebrated its grand opening on Monday, December 18, 2017. The new campus provides a regional destination of hope where expanded and upgraded learning and living spaces are designed specifically to meet the needs of special education students and their families.

Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, supported the school with selecting and then developing an appropriate site for the new 80-acre campus.

 Following site selection, Dewberry was responsible for full land development services, including survey; landscape architecture; and site/civil, geotechnical, environmental, and traffic engineering. The design actualizes Bancroft’s vision to provide opportunities for exploration and community interaction with outdoor walking paths of various scales; locations for play, including sports fields and playgrounds; and garden areas that focus on bringing nature into the everyday interaction of the children in the school. Dewberry studied how the school’s special needs students would use the space and designed secure areas that provide a safe environment without feeling constrained or confining. Hardscape and landscape materials and plantings were carefully selected to keep users safe.

Featured

  • Campus Safety Requires Using Every Resource Available

    Across the U.S., school and campus leaders are facing a security landscape that has changed dramatically over the past decade. Incidents on school property have increased in recent years, with several consecutive years setting record totals. According to analysis of data by CNN, dozens of shootings now occur on school grounds annually across K-12 and higher education environments.

  • University of Kansas Breaks Ground on Entrepreneurship Hub

    The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new KU Entrepreneurship Hub, according to university news. The Hub is part of the university’s School of Business and will include spaces for experiential learning and programming.

  • Philadelphia Middle School Facility Earns LEED Gold Certification

    The Alternative Middle Years (AMY) at James Martin Middle School in Philadelphia, Penn., recently received a LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, according to a news release. The School District of Pennsylvania partnered with KSS Architects on the project.

  • Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, OR

    Preserving Legacy, Designing for the Future

    As historic academic buildings age, institutions face a difficult decision: preserve and adapt or demolish and rebuild. How do we honor the legacy of these spaces while adapting them to meet the needs of modern learners?