STEM

DMR’s Five-Year Project Total for Essential Upgrades to New Jersey Public Schools Exceeds 100 Projects and $85 Million
DMR’s Five-Year Project Total for Essential Upgrades to New Jersey Public Schools Exceeds 100 Projects and $85 Million 789 444 DMR Architects

While known for creating many cutting edge preK-12 education spaces, including some of the most advanced in the country, DMR is also responsible for nearly 125 projects categorized as essential building upgrades, health and safety concerns, needs for special populations and other facility maintenance needs over the past five years.

“Long before administrators can even think about adding spaces for biomedical chemistry labs or STEM spaces, they need to invest in ongoing maintenance and upgrades to utilities, security and other systems,” said Janet Pini, AIA. “DMR’s team provides diverse expertise backgrounds that allows us to help clients end to end on project components including securing funding, choosing the most cost-effective solutions and materials, and sequencing work to impose the least amount of disruption to the school year.”

DMR’s work valued at $85 million of essential upgrades includes:

  • 37 Building Skins (Masonry, Facade, Windows, Roofs)
  • 28 Building Systems Upgrades
  • 15 Classrooms/Capacity Generation
  • 13 Interior or Outdoor Physical Education Fields, Locker Rooms or Fitness Spaces
  • 10 Auditoriums
  • Seven Security Upgrades

DMR is also managing 53 projects for the New York City School Construction Authority (NYCSCA) at preK-12 facilities throughout the city.

Working with Your Architect to Support the Next Generation of Creative Thinkers with Divergent Learning Spaces
Working with Your Architect to Support the Next Generation of Creative Thinkers with Divergent Learning Spaces 960 540 DMR Architects

By Donna Coen O’Gorman

Where STEM and STEAM curriculum were once offered as after-school clubs—and in whatever classroom space was available—that students with an already existing interest or aptitude in math and the sciences could opt into, more schools are now incorporating these education modes into regular classes and expanding the applications beyond science and math.

This shift in education practices requires a physical shift away from the traditional classroom layout with student desks lined in rows facing the teacher to flexible spaces and furniture, materials and spaces that can be incorporated into the lesson plan, and ever-advancing technologies that engage students and better support more forward-thinking practices.

DMR has been the go-to firm for nearly a quarter of all public school buildings in New Jersey since its inception in 1991—responsible for some of the state’s most advanced learning institutions and spaces—with a current roster that includes the new Junior High School in Carteret and several projects in Passaic at the Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering (P.A.S.E), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School No. 6 and Theodore Roosevelt School No. 10.

Building New

In Carteret, DMR’s plans applied the most forward-thinking divergent learning practices to the school district’s program curriculum and the State’s Department of Education Facility Efficient Standards with classrooms for traditional subjects with dedicated spaces for enhanced art and music education, a think tank, a flexible media center that will replace the library, a dance studio, and a STEM lab for the municipalities 600 seventh and eighth graders.  These plans satisfied the community’s need for adaptable spaces that could be easily updated as education practices and students’ needs continue to evolve.

“This Junior High School has been a long time coming, but previous attempts for community support failed, because plans only addressed one issue – overcrowding,” said Rosa Diaz, Superintendent of Schools in Carteret.  “The DMR team’s thoughtful application of knowledge regarding current learning environments and their ability to identify ways that a facility we build today can continue to adapt and support the best educational modalities to come, helped us present a funding referendum that everyone in Carteret could support.”

Our plans were used as background materials that led to the approval of the first new educational facility in Carteret in more than 40 years.

Working Within 

While DMR met Carteret’s needs with a new facility, in Passaic our plans at Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering (P.A.S.E) addressed practical concerns like how to maximize the functionality of an existing space, find adaptable furniture, and provide appropriate ventilation so that the school could expand its biomedical science program.  In this case, DMR’s decision to hang the utilities and the ventilation hood from the ceiling freed up space in the lab for furniture including an anatomage table, a highly sophisticated technology that will position its students on par or ahead of even some college and university pre-med programs.

DMR’s work in Passaic also includes the art studio at P.A.S.E that acts as a classroom and an art gallery for its students through moveable workstations, soft lighting and interactive exhibit areas.  We have also designed state-of-the-art auditoriums in its School No. 6 and School No. 10 and a data center in support of the data analytics program at P.A.S.E, complete with an interactive, LCD tile video wall to be used to teach digital signage technologies.

Looking Forward

The requests for alternative learning options have been growing for several years. In 2018, we completed the Frank J. Gargiulo Campus, where all aspects of the physical facility are incorporated into the learning experience and the building itself doubles as a teaching tool. Numerous architectural elements provide this level of education. Architectural and engineering students learn firsthand about building systems as infrastructure, such as mechanical lines and the school’s server room, are exposed. Students in the culinary program grow their own food in the hydroponic garden. The theatre is not simply a space for large school gatherings, but rather an intimate learning space with functions such as a control room and catwalk. Television production students coordinate the broadcasting of school news and events across academies.

We expect these requests to continue as divergent education spaces like these can prepare and create excitement for careers that are becoming more and more technical and students prove to be more prepared for the modern demands of higher education and the workforce. After location, the school system is the most important attribute that homebuyers look at; even people who don’t have children. Community leaders are wise to invest in creating learning environments that help current students stay competitive in a very crowded college environment.

Anatomy class at this N.J. school just got a lot more high-tech
Anatomy class at this N.J. school just got a lot more high-tech 960 540 DMR Architects

by Taylor Tiamoyo Harris

Instead of learning with your typical miniature body model, biomedical science academy students in Hunterdon County now have the opportunity to dissect bodies, virtually.

“It’s super cool. We get to see the nervous systems and different layers of the body as if the person was laying right in front of us,” said freshman Damiano Palladino, 15, who plans to study oncology after graduation. “The virtual aspect is a lot better than just googling it online.”

The anatomy teaching tool allows students to see every muscle of the body according to the program’s instructor, Donna Badgewell. This also includes showing them abnormalities, such as an enlarged spleen.

The students who use the table are in Hunterdon County Vocational School District’s Biomedical Academy, which is located on North Hunterdon High School’s campus.

Tables such as the one at the vocational school, paid for through an $80,000 grant from the state Department of Education, are typically used in college and in medical schools.

“These are the top students in the county. In order to attract them to a program like this, we need to make sure we’re providing them with the top education and that includes things like the anatomage table,” said Jessica Cangelosi-Hade, the program’s director of curriculum. “We redesign the program every year so hopefully this adds length to the program.”

The table was installed by DMR Architects, which has installed over 550 educational projects in 100 school districts across the state. However, Hunterdon County Vocational School’s virtual table is one of only two in high schools in the state that can dissect a virtual body in class, without all the mess.

Though the use of the table is supplementary, Badgewell hopes to change that after attending training in California this summer to learn more about the table’s updates and operations.

“They love it and have adapted to it so well. The overall goal is to implement as much of its use in the curriculum as we can,” said Blackwell.

This article originally appeared on NJ.com.

Using Technology to Teach Technology
Using Technology to Teach Technology 960 540 DMR Architects

(Excerpt)

When the New Jersey legislature expanded the use of design-build in 2015, Hudson County school leaders wasted no time in beginning work  on what could prove to be one of the nation’s most innovative high schools. The Hudson County School of Technology’s High Tech High School broke ground just a year later, in June of 2016, and is slated to open its doors in September 2018. The 340,000 sf project will serve 1,200 to 1,500 students and is budgeted at $160 million. However, those numbers don’t even begin to tell the whole story about what makes the High Tech High School project so unique. This is a story of how innovation and collaboration are being leveraged to ensure that technology not only provides building efficiencies, but also plays an integral role in the day-to-day learning experience for students.

This article originally appeared in Integration Quarterly published by the Design Build Institute of America. A full copy of the article is available on their website. 

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