VLK Architects and Royse City ISD Break Ground on Bobby Summers Middle School

On March 7, VLK Architects joined with Royse City ISD students, staff, administrators, and community members to celebrate breaking ground on the district’s new Bobby Summers Middle School.  The school’s namesake was also in attendance to commemorate this new campus. This facility is the largest project included in the district’s 2018 bond and will serve 1,200 middle school students in grades six through eight.

Royse City

“Through VLK|LAUNCH, a committee was formed to design this school that consisted of staff, parents, community members, and most importantly our students. The design is going to be safe, smart, modern, and efficient,” said Kevin Worthy, Superintendent, Royse City ISD. “From the secure interior courtyard, to the community friendly extracurricular facilities, we hope that it will spark creativity and passion for learning in every child.”

The new building is designed to promote outdoor engagement with a centrally located secure courtyard and large windows allowing day light throughout. The multipurpose courtyard area located just outside of the cafeteria functions as a staging area and will further serve as a meeting space for large events, classes, and play space. Multipurpose furniture will be placed on tracks that can be moved based on the space needed. The design is specified to be environmentally friendly by using a rainwater collection tank to further aid in landscaping.

Bobby Summers Middle School is expected to open its doors to students in August 2020.

Featured

  • Agricultural Sciences Complex

    Agricultural Sciences Complex

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The College of Western Idaho's Agricultural Sciences Complex has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of New Construction.

  • Rethinking K-12 Schools as a Continuous Learning Experience

    Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.

  • school building with glowing circuit board patterns

    AI Is Coming to Schools — But Most School Buildings Still Run on Institutional Memory

    As school districts race to introduce AI into classrooms, administration, and curriculum planning, another conversation is happening behind the scenes: How prepared are school facilities themselves for the operational demands AI will create?

  • R.I. District Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for New Elementary School

    Cranston Public Schools in Cranston, R.I., recently announced the completion of Gladstone Elementary School, according to a news release. The 100,000-square-foot facility serves as a replacement for the 1950s-era former building, and it consolidates the student, faculty, and staff populations of Gladstone and Arlington Elementary Schools.