CRA is currently designing a unique Middle/High School for Tulpehocken Area School District. The exterior is designed to tie into the local agrarian community and landscape through a series of gabled roof lines and a goal to daylight all educational program space within the school.
Tulpehocken Area Middle/High School will serve approximately 800 students, 6th through 12th grade and is the result a feasibility study in 2019/2020 to evaluate updating the mid 1960’s high school that had grown through additions over 55 years, the school was disjointed and did not serve the current educational model that Tulpehocken Area School District hopes to lead into future.
The current design is planned to start construction the spring/summer of 2022, reorganizes the school to focus upon 21st century principles of collaborative and independent educational design, sustainability and safe school design and brings 6th grade to the 7-12th grade facility. Classrooms are organized into pods of classrooms incorporating open collaborative zones and small group instruction with localized support program to maximize instructional time within the school.
The design creates two schools within one facility for the 6-8th grade middle school and 9th-12th grade high school, sharing common program spaces including circulation corridors, media center, visual and performing arts, cafeteria, and physical education.
The school will incorporate principles of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) for school safety while creating an open and inviting facility for learning. Last, the school will incorporate sustainability through the U.S. Green Building Council certification program to improve the energy efficiency of the facility and improve indoor air quality in the school.
