When initiating a city-wide consolidation project to replace six aging, physically and educationally inadequate facilities with three new elementary schools, the city of Concord, New Hampshire and HMFH Architects, Inc. saw the opportunity to develop a program that reflects changes in the way teaching and learning take place. In response to the importance of hands-on exploration and curiosity in child development, the new schools include a variety of spaces, all organized in a central “Learning Corridor.” These open project areas allow for a balance of creativity, interaction, exploration, collaboration and presentation. Accessible just outside classroom doors, the Learning Corridor offers an extension of learning space with areas for students to access and consume knowledge according to their individual learning styles. These spaces are conducive to both individual and small group work. From making a video, to working on-on-one with a reading specialist, to building a paper mache solar system, the Learning Corridor spaces reinforce the curriculum by engaging students through self-directed learning and differentiated instruction. Because of the visibility of learning in the schools, students become keenly aware of what is happening in the educational community; as first graders pass by a 3rd grade class engaged in a science experiment, or an inter-grade group of reading buddies in the amphitheater, the open environment allows curiosity, inquiry and observation to catalyze learning.
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