Collaborative design helps students in Washington, D.C. make the grade

Enrollment is up. Staff retention is solid, and test scores for D.C. Bilingual Public Charter School students are at a record high. The head of school credits a collaborative renovation and cohesive addition, designed by architects from Baltimore-based firm Hord, Coplan, Macht, for creating a space that fosters community and connection, celebrates culture and identity, and provides a safe, joyful environment for students to succeed. The architects who led the project give insight into the planning process.

Students at D.C. Bilingual Public Charter School spend half of their day learning in Spanish and the other half in English. Culture and community, says Daniela Anello, head of school, are the foundations of every lesson.

“Since we are bilingual, the Latin American and Hispanic heritage is naturally infused. There is this beautiful mix of cultures and traditions shared, and cultures from across the world are represented," said Anelo.  "We make sure everyone can bring their full self, and all values and cultures are treated with the upmost respect.”

All signage inside DC Bilingual Public Charter School are in Spanish and English.

The same respect and intention were given during the planning process for the school’s recent renovation. Architects on the project hosted bilingual programming meetings, which included virtual town halls, staff and student surveys, and presentations to the school’s staff, faculty, and Board of Directors.

“Working with the firm was an opportunity to feel heard and understood. They used design to meet needs in ways we never imagined,” said Anello. “We have developed a building space that is incredibly suited to give kids a well- rounded experience, from the core content areas to music, art, technology, library, dance, and cooking and gardening.”

Outisde its revamped building, students  grow the second largest school garden in the city. The garden serves as an outdoor lab for lessons in agriculture, science, and math instruction, and helps provide the fruits, vegetables, and canned goods offered to the community at a free monthly food market the school hosts with an area food bank. The garden also supports cooking lessons in the school’s kitchen lab, a gift from chef Emeril Lagasse, where the school hosts family cooking nights.

Anello appreciates how the reimagined school has become a gathering space for students, as well as neighbors who use the building after hours, on weekends, and during summers for church services, camps, club meetings, and town halls.

“We are in a neighborhood where there are not a lot of spaces for people to host meetings. We want to be very welcoming to the community, so in the design, we kept in mind safe entry and exit for weekends and evenings,” she said.

But Anello is most proud of the impact the space is having on the students. The school currently ranks as the highest performing elementary charter school in math, and its other standardized test scores suggest the redesign and addition are contributing to better learning.

“Our students performed higher academically than ever before in the history of the school, and we can say that has to do with a number of factors, but one of the factors is that they are in a space well suited for them to learn the best that they can,” said Anello.

Hord, Coplan, Macht architects Casey Smith, AIA, principal, Margaret Gaggioli-Prichard, AIA, associate, and Chris Peterson, AIA, associate, led the work at DC Bilingual Public Charter School and share some of the project’s goals and inspiration.

L to R: Casey Smith, AIA, Margaret Gaggioli-Prichard, AIA, and Chris Peterson, AIA

What were the main goals of the project?

Casey Smith: The 27,000 SF addition was constructed to accommodate D.C. Bilingual’s continued growth and goal to double its student population by 2027.  Beyond the necessity of 12 additional classrooms, expanded shared program spaces were also required to ensure all students are properly served – such as a new art classroom, media center, community commons, and a variety of outdoor play spaces.

What feedback stood out most from the community during planning?

Margaret Gaggioli-Prichard: The thoughtful programmatic needs defined by the school and community, based on their core values and ethose.  We provided two teaching walls in the classrooms – one led in Spanish and one in English, allowing the class to alternate throughout the day. That was a unique design exercise that is not typically provided in most standard schools. The school was also very centered on students who have different needs. Two studio classrooms were provided for students who have special learning accommodations or who learn better in  smaller scale environments. Those were part of the larger DSSS suite – their Department of Student Support Services,  housed in the new addition. It is a unique but thoughtful program: a series of spaces where students and teachers can meet one on one to focus on the student in a less formal setting. And after hearing parents’ feedback , gender neutral restrooms were provided in the addition. We received great feedback from that.

What changes to the redesign made the building more sustainable?

Casey Smith: All the new primary learning spaces have ample daylight and light fixture controls which help contribute to a significant reduction in the building’s energy use.  The addition also provided us with an opportunity to reduce the quantity and improve the quality of storm water on site. We achieved this by utilizing an intensive vegetated roof area and creating new linear bioretention gardens alongside the building.

How can the students learn from the building?

Chris Peterson: There is the opportunity to teach how things evolve over time. Right when you walk in, there is the stone water table of the existing building and the brick, which is in plain view. You can very clearly see what’s new and what’s old, so there is a celebration of the history and of the future that lets teachers point out, “Hey look, this has been here for 100 years and now we’re in something brand new!”

What considerations are most personal when you design schools?

Margaret Gaggioli-Prichard: Do students feel secure, do they feel supported, and at the end of the day, do they feel joyful?  Security was identified as a design priority, as that was one of the important factors the school challenged us to consider. We provided a new secure entry vestibule from the parking lot, so drop off and pick up  is situated purposefully  between the historic building and the new building, allowing occupants to feel secure and welcome upon arrival. For students to feel supported, all the elements the school highlighted like gender neutral bathrooms, double bilingual teaching walls in classrooms,  studios with smaller class sizes, and bilingual indoor and outdoor signage helps students feel supported and meet their goals. All of these provide the setting in which there are opportunities for students to succeed, feel joyful, and learn to value all cultures and citizens.

What design elements most reflect the Hispanic culture?

Chris Peterson: It was a lot of fun to investigate the culture. To represent the Hispanic diaspora without putting one location or group over another, we went back in time in a way to more ancient cultures and researched different earth works and farming techniques since the school has a strong culinary program, as well as textile and fabric weaving, so those were our jumping off points.

The materials we chose were somewhat humble, like a ground face masonry block, but we designed it very specifically – we actually drew each layer – to emulate those layered horizonal terraces of the Earth. The colors chosen were related to the limestone on the existing building – the corner of the historic building, the quoins, that sand color. The panels of the building were inspired by the woven textiles, creating a very lively paneled façade.

I feel like there is always this talk about placemaking in architecture, and what does it mean to define a place and give it an identity somewhere? The trick here was to give the culture a presence in the neighborhood. These elementary schools in D.C. are based on a prototype from the early 1900s. They are quite similar and beautiful in their own right, but at the same time, because of that they can be a little bit anonymous. And they are very D.C. So, how can we make an exclamation point on this community that is here, right now? The community can look at this school and know it represents a certain culture that is proud to be here.