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.