The Princeton Charter School (PCS) has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to education, and now it’s upping its environmental credentials as well. The school recently made a very sustainable addition to its Campus Center – a multi-use facility that houses a sports complex as well as art and music classrooms. At a time where parents struggle to find schools that still develop music and the arts, PCS has grown its athletic and arts facilities with an addition that is targeting LEED certification.
The new 17,000 square-foot mixed-use complex includes a gym, a theater, an art studio, and a music classroom. The architects at Farewell Mills Gatsch Architects LCC were enthusiastic to bring sustainable design to the Princeton Charter School: “We’re excited to be part of this visionary project for PCS,” said FMG Design Partner Michael Farewell, FAIA. “Our plan for the campus integrates a comprehensive outlook on long-term growth potential for its facilities, so that the school can grow with its students.”
Serving kindergarten students through grade 8, the new buildings make the most of natural light, ensuring plenty of playtime and opportunities for child development throughout the day. The southern orientation of the buildings allow for a roof-mounted photovoltaic array to capture solar energy. Rainwater on the site is collected and channeled to a system of irrigation channels that recharge the soil naturally and water the school’s vegetable garden. The hope is that the new campus addition will be an integrative part of the curriculum that serves as a teaching tool for natural process, helps kids understand the daily changes in natural light, and elucidates the relationships between building and the need for shared green space.
+ Princeton Charter School
+ Farewell Mills Gatsch Architects
Images © Brian Rose
How exciting! It’s also a great way to start teaching kids the importance of being eco-friendly and protecting the environment.
http://www.southwesternathome.com/
Publicly funded yet privately managed – Charter School fraud is an easy concept. Charters can be succesful it depends on the “agenda” of the the managing company. Accountability has not caught up to the growth of the Charter movement. In the USA we have an Islamic Imam – Fethullah Gulen (Gulen Movement) that manages over 130 US Charter schools they have taken over $1 billion in Educational monies in the last 10 years and are growing like rapid fire.
The Gulen schools have a network of foundations and instutitions layered over the schools and much of our educational money is going to non-educational expenses such as: Turkish Olympiads, trips to Turkey for the students and local politicians, H1-b Visas of over 2,000 uncredentialed teachers from Turkey (while American teachers are handed pink slips) this money is to fuel the grand ambition of Fethullah Gulen who lives in exile (for a reason) in the Poconos, PA area with his $25 billion in wealth from inflitration in: education, media, police, poltics and military. Seems the same model works very nicely in the USA. Do your research!!!
http://www.charterschoolwatchdog.com
http://www.charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com
http://gulencharterschools.weebly.com
Wow send this school over to Illinois we could use you here. The current trend is homeschooling but if I had this choice my kids would be registered at this type of school.
Cynthia Allen Schenk
Illinois
Charter Schools are best way to go. They offer high quality of education to poor families.
Btw, I just want to comment on George’s comment:
If you want to learn facts about the so called Gulen Charter Schools, visit the following links:
http://www.getthefact.com/gulen-charter-schools/
http://www.getthefact.com/gulen-charter-schools/rosetta-stone-gulen-charter-schools.html