Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Southern Minnesota Gains New K–12 School

  • By Matt Jones
  • 09/20/22

The Maple River School District in Mapleton, Minn., recently finished construction on a new, $63-million K–12 school. The new facility covers 200,000 square feet and will serve students in the rural communities of Amboy, Good Thunder, Mapleton and Minnesota Lake, according to a news release. The new school is part of a long-range facilities plan whose funds come from a $63.3-million bond referendum that was passed in February 2020, and the project broke ground in October 2020.

In addition to classrooms and administration offices, the two-story facility features three gymnasiums, playgrounds, a kitchen, café, and a 500-seat auditorium. One wing of the school will serve elementary-school students and include early-childhood classrooms; the other wing will serve middle- and high-school students and include amenities like agricultural science and career and tech classrooms. It will also feature outdoor spaces like retention ponds, walking paths and playfields.

Maple River K12 School
Rendering Courtesy of ISG Architects

The new facility was designed with equity in mind, the news release reports. It will feature balanced classroom sizes and equal access to support and resources. The centralized learning environment is intended to boost students’ collaborative, interactive and social learning experiences, and the modernized facility will offer benefits like improved indoor air quality, accessibility and safety.

The district partnered with construction firm Kraus-Anderson and architecture firm ISG Architects.

About the Author

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

Featured

  • ZeroEyes, Academic Innovators Partner to Provide Safety Solutions

    ZeroEyes, which produces a multi-analytics weapons detection and threat intelligence platform, recently announced a partnership with Academic Innovators, according to a news release.

  • Cleveland High School Breaks Ground on Modernization

    Portland Public Schools in Portland, Ore., recently announced that construction has begun on a modernization project for Cleveland High School, according to a news release. The existing building will be replaced with a new, 300,000-square-foot facility at the same site.

  • URI Cuts Underwater Ribbon on New Ocean Robotics Laboratory

    The University of Rhode Island recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Ocean Robotics Laboratory at its Narragansett Bay Campus, according to a news release. Two students used a remotely operated vehicle to cut an underwater ribbon in a 30-by-20-foot test tank.

  • UPenn Announces Completion of New Veterinary Education Facility

    The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Penn., recently finished construction on an 11,800-square-foot veterinary education building, according to a news release. The Gail P. Riepe Center for Advanced Veterinary Education is the first dedicated classroom facility at the New Bolton Center, a large-animal hospital and campus about 35 miles west of the campus proper.