Designed to embrace hands-on, inclusive, and interdisciplinary learning, the new Chapman Middle School replaces two middle schools with a 1,470-student facility that provides an equitable educational experience and resources for the entire town.
A series of meetings involving the entire community revealed two driving project goals: foster student well-being and create an equitable educational experience for all students. The design responds to these goals throughout: everything from the building organization to graphics and color selection promotes a sense of belonging and fosters a small-school atmosphere, while providing all middle school students access to state-of-the-art learning spaces.
The heart of the school is the "Town Square", a light-filled, double-height gathering space for dining, study, and community use. Three academic wings radiate off this central space, each marked by a distinct tower-like structure, or pod, at its entrance. Clad in metal, wood, and acrylic panel, the pods create a unique identity for the space and house specialized labs to support the school’s “exploratories”—introductory elective tracks that focus on modern, STEAM-driven paths in career technical education (CTE). As a feeder for Weymouth High School and its robust career technical programs, students at the Chapman school can explore CTE programs ranging from robotics and fabrication to culinary arts and broadcast media.
To break down the scale of the large school, academic wings are organized by grade level and further separated into neighborhoods—a cluster of classroom teams surrounding a double-height presentation space, work area, and support spaces. The neighborhood structure provides a home-base for students and ensures their needs are met with expanded resources, focused attention, and supervision. Vibrant supergraphics in each academic wing reinforce concepts of diversity, empathy, and inclusion, and are supplemented by distinct color schemes for each neighborhood that assist with wayfinding and promote a sense of belonging.
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