MooreCo Inc. Dodgertown Elementary School

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. Lead by Senior Digital Innovation Administrator, Kerri Wall, the technology team for the entire district moved into the library to give full administrative backing to STEAM Park. Using MooreCo’s free design services, Dodgertown and MooreCo’s Design Team Manager Molly Brinkmann created “a space that allows the school to adapt to changes in learning styles and subject matter and ensures that the furniture would adapt with them,” explains Brinkmann. Unveiled in the fall of 2024, STEAM Park has six distinctive areas for different STEAM activities:

• A collaborative planning space
• A coding and engineering room
• A flexible, collaborative space for younger students
• A computer lab
• A 3d printing and robotics lab
• A center flex-space outfitted with mobile soft seating

Lastly, the MooreCo-sponsored Lab Site Learning model classroom is a space where teachers and administrators highlight effective teaching strategies or co-teach or shoulder-teach. Using a philosophy called “smart lab”, all learning equipment and resources are put on open, accessible shelves where teachers and students can see them, touch them, and get ideas. The overall aesthetic of STEAM Park encourages choice and draws students in with energetic, bright colors and bold shapes. Though STEAM Park has six distinctive areas, furniture was chosen to move, adapt, and evolve as the zones change. Compass Makerspace Tables provide ample space to spread out materials for collaborative projects. Standing-height tables give students freedom to move, keep blood and energy flowing, reduce fatigue, and boost creativity. A variety of seating options, including Dot Rocking Stools, Hierarchy Grow Stools®, Tinker All Foam Soft Seating – Wheels, Hierarchy Cantilever Chairs, and Hierarchy 4-Leg Stools and Chairs, ensures that each student can find their ideal seat to meet their physical and cognitive needs. Perhaps the most essential active-learning tool in STEAM Park is the selection of porcelain-steel-top tables and desks. Porcelain steel resists dents, scratches, and ghosting and is 2.5x harder and 5.5x more wear-resistant than standard dry-erase laminate. Hierarchy Creator Rectangle Desks and Hierarchy Shapes Desks provide space for students to jot down ideas, take notes, and create. The desktop silhouettes meet up in countless configurations for large or small groups. The larger surfaces on porcelain steel top tables provide space for collaborative innovation, design, and brainstorming.

“The students love the element of choice. It improves engagement with the space. They can pick a spot and regulate themselves until they are ready to move on to a different activity,”
- Erika Fischer, Digital Innovation Specialist at Dodgertown Elementary.