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Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District – Forest Ridge Elementary School

Creating neighborhood-style groupings for collaborative learning

EUA has enjoyed a long standing relationship with the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District since 1999 with over 25 projects completed. The most recent referendum requested a new 500-student 4K-5 elementary school to address facility space needs due to student enrollment growth and over-capacity elementary grade levels at five of the District’s six schools.

Forest Ridge Elementary was designed in conjunction with a visionary team of teachers and district administration to inform and shape the way the school could serve current and future students. The building is organized into four “neighborhoods,” each representing a season, grouping similar grade level classrooms around multi-purpose, flexible learning spaces for small and large group collaboration. The design is enhanced by color and theme, with forest graphics along corridor walls. By utilizing elements from nature to inspire the design, the building itself became a fun, playful, and educational environment allowing students to thrive.

Comprised of half wetland areas, the site required the team to develop a unique solution for the school’s placement. By utilizing value engineering, EUA was able to remove 3,000 square feet from the final solution, reducing cost for the district and providing additional value for the tax paying community.