Buckingham Friends School's Master Facilities Plan - Stewarding our Campus

STEWARDING OUR CAMPUS

Buckingham Friends School’s Master Facilities Plan

MISSION Buckingham Friends School honors the Light within each person, inspires scholarship and spiritual community, and instills the value of caring for others and our world.

Approved by the Board of Trustees – December 12, 2018

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY As a Friends school, we believe that each individual contributes in unique and important ways to our community. As educators, we nurture the inherent promise of each student, demonstrate our faith in their abilities, and challenge them to develop the motivation and discipline necessary for personal, social, and academic success.

We teach for life inside and outside the classroom through projects and experiences relevant to the reality of today and the potential of tomorrow. Each student is expected to take responsibility for their work; to strive for high levels of achievement; and to participate fully in a variety of academic, artistic, and athletic pursuits.

We foster a loving and structured environment in which young people look forward to being together, and where accomplishment becomes a shared celebration. We encourage children to maintain a balanced approach to life, to view mistakes as learning experiences, and to address challenges with creativity and confidence. Our students work hard, respect themselves, recognize each other’s humanity, and welcome the diversity of society – building self-awareness and a set of personal values that will guide their contributions to the local and global community for the rest of their lives.

Affirmed by the faculty – June 17, 2019

Dear Friend of Buckingham Friends School, Buckingham Friends School’s bucolic 44-acre campus and facilities are some of its most precious resources. Accordingly, a primary goal of our 2019 Strategic Plan was that “BFS will have stewarded all its resources – financial, campus, and talent – for a sustainable future, (in part by) revitalizing campus facilities and grounds in environmentally proactive ways that improve aesthetics and functionality.” With this charge, we went through a master planning process over the course of the 2019-20 school year—led by our School Board and the Master Plan Steering Committee, and facilitated by Centerbrook Architects of Centerbook, Connecticut.

Using a combination of interviews, focus groups, and workshops, Centerbrook Architects led a thorough and inclusive process that engaged faculty, alumni, past and present parents, students, and trustees. Informed by the outcomes of that process, and with close guidance from the Master Planning Steering Committee, we developed a Master Facilities Plan for improving our School’s buildings and adjacent areas on campus. The plan recommends that we focus our resources as follows: • • • • • •

improve classrooms and shared learning areas in our Main building, build a signature Science classroom addition, replace our gymnasium, expand our Arts studios and Music teaching spaces, improve building accessibility and energy efficiency, p reserve and enhance the natural environments around buildings for learning, exploration, and play.

The BFS campus as we know it today is the result of the vision and generous stewardship of generations before us. The following plan represents the care and future vision of the current generation of stakeholders, and it serves as a blueprint for the ongoing improvement and stewardship of BFS’s treasured campus. Its recommendations represent a set of ideas to be realized as the School moves forward with specific projects. We are excited that this plan will help preserve Buckingham Friends School for many more generations of students.

Sincerely,

Michael Godshall Clerk, BFS School Board

Paul Lindenmaier Head of School

Robert Roop Clerk, Physical Plant Committee (2010-2020) PAGE 1

PAGE 2

PAGE 3

BRIEF HISTORY "From the very beginnings of the Society of Friends, it was recognized that a trained mind made for a fuller life, although knowledge alone was insufficient. Friends were leaders at a time when public education was unknown, not only in establishing schools in connection with their meetings, but also in helping to found universal public education. Buckingham Friends School has continued to serve a community unusually rich in natural beauty, culture, and spirit which makes for an abundant life."

Buckingham Friends School Viewbook, circa 1950

The idea of building a school adjacent to Buckingham Friends Meetinghouse was inspired in 1754 by a bequest designated for educational purposes, but it would be forty years before construction began. Buckingham Friends School welcomed its first group of students to a twostory, two-room structure in January 1794. Even then, the School’s library was a central hub for both the School and the broader community, serving as a resource center for guest speakers and public discussions.

The original schoolhouse remained essentially unchanged until 1936, when two new classrooms and a basement were added. Subsequent additions to the School’s campus were built in response to needs for increased space and programming: a gymnasium in the 1950s; the Lower School building in 1958 (recently renovated and expanded in 2016); the Arts building in 1979. The expansion and renovation of the Main schoolhouse — including the Science lab, The Peter Barry Library, offices, and new classrooms — was completed in 2002.

PAGE 4

PAGE 5

MAIN BUILDING Our Middle and Upper School programs challenge students intellectually, socially, and morally, preparing them for secondary school and beyond. Central to our vision for the future of those programs is to create larger classrooms with neighboring shared spaces that will support new teaching methodologies and opportunities for independent work and collaboration.

By renovating the building, we can move Sixth Grade upstairs, providing an architectural solution that will unify Upper School on one floor while accomplishing the same for Middle School. Adding a central shared space for Middle School teaching and learning on the first floor, and providing greater access to the Library on the second floor as a shared “learning commons,” will enhance BFS’s ability to live our mission and deliver an innovative program that is integrated, interdisciplinary, and vigorous.

SCIENCE Buckingham Friends School’s Science curriculum presents students with concepts, skills, and values based on new standards in Science education; fosters active, experiential, and meaningful engagement with concepts, scientific practice, and environmental and social issues; and builds each learner’s ability to think critically and contribute as an informed member of a global society. A new and expanded Science classroom/lab addition on the Main building will provide a signature space for science learning and offer ready access to BFS’s natural and wooded campus.

Architectural elements such as vertical evaporation solar tubes, solar panels, light monitors, and natural light and ventilation systems will increase energy efficiency while supporting our evolving model for teaching and study.

PAGE 6

MAIN FLOOR OFFICE

6TH GRADE CLASSROOM 678 SF

SCIENCE 902 SF

LIBRARY 821 SF

VESTIBULE

8TH GRADE CLASSROOM 674 SF

3RD GRADE CLASSROOM 902 SF

4TH GRADE CLASSROOM 950 SF

STUDENT COMMONS

7TH GRADE CLASSROOM 689 SF CONFERENCE

STORAGE FACILITIES ELEC CLOSET

STUDENT COMMONS

5TH GRADE CLASSROOM 1158 SF

ENTRANCE ACAD. COORD. RECEPTION H.O.S.

MECH

NURSE ELEV MECH

PROJECT ROOM

ADV. & COMM. FILES

FACULTY WORK ROOM

ADMISSIONS

MECHS FACULTY ROOM

LOWER FLOOR

COMPUTER ROOM

CONCEPT DESIGNS | PAGE 7

PAGE 8

PAGE 9

GYMNASIUM Physical Education at Buckingham Friends School includes purposeful activities and instruction designed to develop motor skills, knowledge, confidence, and positive health practices.

We encourage BFS students to be active and to enjoy physical exercise, now and throughout their lifetimes. With buckling floors, non-insulated walls, degraded exterior walls, and no space for spectators, BFS’s beloved gym has reached the conclusion of its life cycle. A new and larger gymnasium – set within the hill to maintain the child-sized scale of our Friends school surrounded by mature trees – will be large enough for our Middle School Sports program and provide greater space for community attendance at games and special events. We also intend that the facility could be available for rental and summer programs, ultimately increasing non-tuition revenue.

ARTS Our signature Arts program is core to the Buckingham Friends School experience. The arts help develop the creativity, competencies, and expressive abilities of every student. Our vision for the renovation of the existing Arts building is to expand and enhance the Music room, Arts studio, and Woodshop; upgrade the auditorium; and provide much-needed ventilation and accessible restrooms for the entire building. We will move the Music room upstairs, creating a more acoustically-friendly design, connecting it to the auditorium, and offering students and ensembles a joyful space for singing, playing, and creating music. By expanding the Arts studio, we will allow different grade levels to work concurrently in multiple mediums– for example Second Grade may engage in printmaking while the room is ready for Fifth Graders to throw pots and Kindergartners to continue working on a multi-media mural. BFS’s Woodshop is a laboratory for working and learning – where each child’s mind, body, and self-esteem develops over many years. Using real tools is an essential component of the curriculum, and we hope to increase the Woodshop significantly, providing more space for workbenches, safer access to power tools, and ample areas for project fabrication and finishing.

PAGE 10

STAGE 977 SF

MAIN LEVEL

AUDITORIUM 2261 SF KITCHEN 349 SF

STORAGE

MUSIC 737 SF STORAGE

KILN

OPEN TO COURT BELOW

ART STUDIO 1257 SF

LOWER LEVEL

STORAGE REST ROOMS

WOODSHOP 1102 SF GYM STORAGE

FACILITIES + MECHANICAL

GYMNASIUM 5504SF STORAGE THEATER STORAGE

CONCEPT DESIGNS | PAGE 11

CONNECTOR The proposed connector will build a bridge between the Arts building and the Gymnasium, maximizing the space available for their respective functions while joining them for community events and shared access to a new, larger serving kitchen. In addition, the new connector will create space for a shared entrance and elevator, making both buildings more welcoming and accessible for all community members and visitors. ADA restrooms will be available for audience members and attenders. Our new kitchen will serve as another classroom extension, support a range of community events such as the annual Lasagna Dinner, and be used by Buckingham Monthly Meeting from time to time.

GROUNDS/PLAY AREAS Buckingham Friends School’s 44-acre wooded campus, fields, and pond are treasured and distinctive resources. Central to the School’s mission and philosophy, an abundance of developed trails and pathways, acres of wooded forest, five fields of varying sizes, and expansive natural play areas provide the ideal setting for connection, exploration, learning, and fun. We will responsibly steward and maintain these areas, restoring the areas for play and exploration adjacent to and between the buildings, and continuing to construct with natural materials designed to support creativity and emerging play. With a respect for green space, we will develop some areas for ball play, games, swings, and climbing. We intend to continue to engage the community in the shared stewardship and care of the gardens and our property by collectively maintaining the trails and caring for our gardens.

PAGE 12

PAGE 13

PAGE 14

PAGE 15

THE MASTER FACILITIES PLANNING STEERING COMMITTEE 2019-2020: MICHAEL GODSHALL Co-Clerk, Clerk of the School Board, Physical Plant Committee member, Former parent PAUL LINDENMAIER Co-Clerk, Head of School, Physical Plant Committee member ROBERT ROOP Co-Clerk, School Board member, Clerk of the Physical Plant Committee, Former parent LAUREN CORTRIGHT Faculty member, Former parent RICHARD COX Faculty member MATTHEW EATON Physical Plant Committee member, Current parent DOUG HAIGH Director of Finance and Operations, Physical Plant Committee member, Former parent KARA SHAW Faculty member, Faculty representative to the School Board, Current parent JP WASICKO Member of Buckingham Friends Meeting, Former parent SARA WEBSTER Former School Board member, Physical Plant Committee member, Former parent

ADMINISTRATION: PAUL LINDENMAIER Head of School MELISSA CLAYTON Director of Admission and Financial Aid KATELYNN CONNOLLY Director of Advancement CHRIS SEARLE Director of Finance and Operations NANCY SANDBERG Academic Coordinator

BOARD OF TRUSTEES: MICHAEL GODSHALL, Clerk LAURA KINNEL, Assistant Clerk LISA PRETECRUM, Treasurer OLIVIA BRANGAN, Secretary ANDREW GARRETT ‘80 CHRIS KERR LUKAS MAKRIS ALISON MITCHELL ‘81 PETER RAPAPORT ALEXIS RIDGE-SIMEK ROBERT ROOP GEORGE YARNALL

ARCHITECT: CENTERBROOK ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS JIM CHILDRESS Principal ELIZABETH HEDDE, AIA Associate Principal

PAGE 16

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CENTERBROOK ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS Architectural Renderings MELISSA CLAYTON KATELYNN CONNOLLY MICHELE LEVY PAUL LINDENMAIER Copy Consulting PAUL LINDENMAIER Photography BR AD WILSON Design and layout

Buckingham Friends School FOUNDED 1794

PO Box 159 • 5684 York Road, Lahaska, PA 18931 215-794-7491 • www.bfs.org