![An exterior view of the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School shows the monumnet sign, flags and main entrance. The second floor, elevated on columns, looks into the large glass windows that are a centerpiece of the media center.](https://www.dmrarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/Portfolio-Blanquita-1.jpg)
![The media center at Blanquita B. Valenti Community School features large glass windows that wraparound the space.](https://www.dmrarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/Portfolio-Blanquita-3.jpg)
![The media center at the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School, showing flexible furniture, book storage and in the distance, the glass-enclosed makerspace.](https://www.dmrarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/Portfolio-Blanquita-4.jpg)
![The makerspace at the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School in enclosed in glass and is adjacent to the library. The space includes workstations on wheels and 3D printers.](https://www.dmrarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/Portfolio-Blanquita-5.jpg)
![A hallway in the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School overlooks the playground. The walls include student artwork.](https://www.dmrarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/Portfolio-Blanquita-6.jpg)
![A hallway in the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School overlooks the playground, and also provides benches for socialization and gathering. The walls are painted in bright colors and include student artwork.](https://www.dmrarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/Portfolio-Blanquita-7.jpg)
![The main entrance lobby of the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School, including a security desk and display cabinets for noteworthy artifacts.](https://www.dmrarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/Portfolio-Blanquita-8.jpg)
![An exterior view of the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School shows the monumnet sign, flags and main entrance. The second floor, elevated on columns, looks into the large glass windows that are a centerpiece of the media center.](https://www.dmrarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/Portfolio-Blanquita-1.jpg)
![The media center at Blanquita B. Valenti Community School features large glass windows that wraparound the space.](https://www.dmrarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/Portfolio-Blanquita-3.jpg)
![The media center at the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School, showing flexible furniture, book storage and in the distance, the glass-enclosed makerspace.](https://www.dmrarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/Portfolio-Blanquita-4.jpg)
![The makerspace at the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School in enclosed in glass and is adjacent to the library. The space includes workstations on wheels and 3D printers.](https://www.dmrarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/Portfolio-Blanquita-5.jpg)
![A hallway in the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School overlooks the playground. The walls include student artwork.](https://www.dmrarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/Portfolio-Blanquita-6.jpg)
![A hallway in the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School overlooks the playground, and also provides benches for socialization and gathering. The walls are painted in bright colors and include student artwork.](https://www.dmrarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/Portfolio-Blanquita-7.jpg)
![The main entrance lobby of the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School, including a security desk and display cabinets for noteworthy artifacts.](https://www.dmrarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/Portfolio-Blanquita-8.jpg)
Working for the development team, DMR designed the new Blanquita B. Valenti Community School, a K-8 school to serve the New Brunswick Board of Education.
The 127,000 SF, state-of-the-art facility replaced the Lincoln School Annex, providing greater space, parking and programming, such as multi-purpose assembly room and a 14,000 SF playground, neither of which the previous facility had.
In addition to also offering an expanded cafeteria, science demonstration labs and improved traditional educational spaces, a centerpiece of the facility is the media center. The 3,000 SF space, featuring wraparound, floor-to-ceiling windows, provides a stimulating space for STEAM education adaptable for students as young as Kindergarten to middle-schoolers tackling advanced classes. Bookshelves are incorporated into the backs of seating and a classroom offers electronic whiteboards for small-group instruction. An adjacent makerspace is enclosed in glass and is filled with virtual reality tech and 3D printers.
Through a collaborative development effort the new school was built without taxpayer dollars, paving the way for construction of The Jack and Sheryl Morris Cancer Center, a 500,000+ SF, state-of-the-art cancer hospital, on the previous site of the Lincoln School Annex.