January 31, 2018

Meetings With Architects, Education Expert To Address PPS Referendum, Building Plans

By Donald Gilpin

Princeton Public Schools (PPS) have invited the community to attend one of two town hall meetings on February 8 to discuss ideas for a new fifth and sixth grade school and the renovation and expansion of Princeton High School (PHS).

PPS will submit preliminary building plans to the State Department of Education (DOE) in April, and a referendum vote is scheduled for October 2.

The meetings, the first 9:30-11 a.m. in the John Witherspoon Middle School (JWMS) Auditorium and the second 7-9 p.m. in the PHS cafeteria, will be hosted by the architecture firm Fielding Nair International (FNI), considered a global leader in 21st century school design, with CEO Prakash Nair and educator Heidi Hayes Jacobs, author of more than 13 books and a recognized expert on curriculum design, upgrading school design, and modernizing assessments, leading the sessions.

“Both Mr. Nair and Dr. Hayes Jacobs will be partnering with us throughout the design process to ensure that we are building spaces that will help prepare our students to truly thrive in today’s С and tomorrow’s С world,” wrote PPS Superintendent Steve Cochrane in his invitation to the meetings.

At the meetings, Cochrane noted, Nair and Jacobs will discuss 21st century trends in learning and share best practices in school design from around the world. In the morning session at JWMS they will speak “on the need to redefine education in the 21st century and will share how we can prepare students for today’s and tomorrow’s dynamic environments,” Cochrane said.

He went on to explain how Nair and Jacobs “will be helping us see how space in a school affects how students and teachers interact, what they learn, and how they learn. Most schools in America today were designed with an Industrial Revolution mindset,” he said. “Students are shuttled from room to room, where the design intent was for them to be passive recipients of knowledge — not creators of it. The space can often dictate the learning.”

Cochrane emphasized the importance of skills such as collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and complex problem-solving and how Nair and Jacobs will help to envision learning environments that support those skills by offering variety, flexibility, and comfort.

“They will help us see how those needed skills are supported by spaces that allow for large groups and small groups, spaces that allow students to build and create as well as to read and reflect. They will also help us see how new spaces can be created or current spaces renovated or retrofitted.”

At the evening meeting at PHS Nair and Jacobs will repeat their presentation and include additional opportunities for community feedback and small group conversations. Participants will explore initial ideas and concepts, discuss options, and brainstorm ideas to help design the future of the PPS district.

“I hope you can join us for one of these meetings and that you will continue to be engaged as we work together to develop the best and most cost-effective plans for our students and our community,” Cochrane concluded in his invitation to the community.

The architects will return in March to present more concrete designs before the district presents its preliminary plans to the DOE.

Cochrane reported that feedback from two referendum information sessions earlier this month was overwhelmingly positive. “I believe people came away with a clearer sense of the longterm need for space across the district, the education value of a five/six school, and the district’s commitment to sustainability, financial stewardship, and open communication as we continue with this process.

With PHS and JWMS already over capacity, the elementary schools full, and further growth predicted at all levels, Cochrane emphasized that the referendum is driven by the critical need for space, but he pointed out, “The goals of the strategic plan are wonderfully aligned with an architectural design focused on 21st century learning. Both put students at the center of the learning process. Both emphasize wellness, balance, innovation in teaching and learning, and the importance of meaningful human connections.”