Dodgertown Elementary School in Vero Beach, Florida is facing a challenge. Enrollment is dwindling as students are moving to charter schools or private schools with classical education and hands-on experiences. How can Dodgertown entice families to stay in their community? Dodgertown teamed up with MooreCo to rethink the mission of the underutilized library and consider new ways students can access and use materials. Dodgertown leaned into its designation as a STEAM Tech Lab Community Partner with a special focus on science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics (STEAM) curriculum and programming.

The Baton Rouge Center for Visual and Performing Arts is a nearly 80,000 sf building with capacity for 600 students across grades Pre-K through 5. BRCVPA is a beloved institution among East Baton Rouge Parish Schools. The designs transform a dated, sprawling school campus into a vibrant, unified, two-story facility that sets a new standard for educational design in the region. Conceived to address both growing enrollment and persistent traffic congestion, the project replaces multiple disconnected buildings with a single, highly efficient structure, while integrating a dedicated early childhood education center. This magnet program, part of East Baton Rouge Public Schools, offers an arts-integrated curriculum that places dance, music, visual arts, and performance at the heart of daily learning.

The New Fairfield Public Schools engaged JCJ Architecture to redesign and replace significant components of a 1970s-era structure that was deemed by the town to have exceeded it useful life. The High School was co-located/connected to the Town’s Middle School and shared significant core spaces. The new 146,000 sf High School was constructed adjacent to the existing one. Once the new facility was completed, the existing classroom wing and auditorium were demolished; the original gymnasium and natatorium remained. The middle school and high school are separate buildings connected by a pedestrian plaza. With significant grade changes across the site, the building was designed in a 3-story configuration.

Almeta Crawford High School sets a new precedent for Fort Bend ISD. The new school is a modern space where designers took an underdeveloped area and created an intuitive campus that pays homage to the deep roots of the district’s history. For nearly four decades the school’s namesake, Almeta Crawford, was an inspiring and highly respected educator at Fort Bend ISD. She taught for more than 30 years at Dulles High School and received numerous awards, including the 2018 Jan DeBlance Memorial Award for Instructional Excellence.