Joplin Early Childhood Center

Joplin Early Childhood Center

JOPLIN, MISSOURI

  • Joplin School District
  • New Construction
  • 37,500 SF
  • $8.7 million

After seven years in temporary classrooms, Joplin’s littlest learners finally have a home for learning and exploring. This is “Where it all Begins…”

Teachers can now collaborate together to utilize shared learning centers that are integral to their early education curriculum, rather than having to house these centers in their classrooms, which has freed up space in their rooms for more individual and group learning.

It was important for the Joplin community that their Early Childhood Center feels more like a home than a school to ease the transition for students. This space comes alive thanks to the integration of the environmental graphics. Students and visitors are immersed in a forest of trees and critters. The Learning Grove opens learners’ imaginations with construction and waterplay stations, as well as a tricycle track, blurring the lines between indoor and outdoor learning.

In May 2011, an F-5 tornado struck the city of Joplin, devastating the community. The District’s early childhood center is the last piece of Operation Rebuild.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

  • IIDA Mid-America – Silver Award in K-12 Education
  • AIA Kansas City – Citation Award in Interior Architecture

Joplin Early Childhood Center

JOPLIN, MISSOURI

  • Joplin School District
  • New Construction
  • 37,500 SF
  • $8.7 million

After seven years in temporary classrooms, Joplin’s littlest learners finally have a home for learning and exploring. This is “Where it all Begins…”

Teachers can now collaborate together to utilize shared learning centers that are integral to their early education curriculum, rather than having to house these centers in their classrooms, which has freed up space in their rooms for more individual and group learning.

It was important for the Joplin community that their Early Childhood Center feels more like a home than a school to ease the transition for students. This space comes alive thanks to the integration of the environmental graphics. Students and visitors are immersed in a forest of trees and critters. The Learning Grove opens learners’ imaginations with construction and waterplay stations, as well as a tricycle track, blurring the lines between indoor and outdoor learning.

In May 2011, an F-5 tornado struck the city of Joplin, devastating the community. The District’s early childhood center is the last piece of Operation Rebuild.

Learnscape-Raytown Quality Schools

LEARNSCAPE 2019

  • Raytown Quality Schools
  • New Trails Early Learning Center & Three Trails Preschool

Nestled between an early childhood center as well as an elementary school, our emerging professionals had to navigate designing for a variety of ages, from 3-11 years old.

The 2019 Learnscape takes students on a “journey” of experiential learning. Designated areas of grasslands, desert, lagoon, forest and a bird’s nest prompt learning about nature and the types of animals that inhabit each climate. The design team of emerging professionals put themselves in the perspective of young learners and used their imagination to develop an outdoor learning environment where students can play and learn.
An impressive shade structure is the anchor of the Learnscape, providing protection from direct sunlight and casting unique shadows. It was constructed of cedar to ensure increased durability, and stone planters can be found at the base, providing a natural boundary for the group teaching area. Sensory tables give students an outlet to refine their fine motor skills and participate in hands-on learning. The tables can be incorporated into curriculum and teachers can demonstrate activities or can be used for free play. The “forest” was designed so students can weave in and out of the “trees.” Designed from the perspective of a young child, the poles bow inward toward the top, giving the wondrous illusion of being surrounded by treetops when they gaze at the sky.

Liberty North High School

Liberty North High School Additions

LIBERTY, MISSOURI

  • Liberty Public Schools
  • Additions
  • 42,000 SF total
  • $9 million

This addition embraces a new way of learning for the District. Flexible learning spaces create a culture of collaboration that is unlike any other part of the building.

The existing high school is a traditional learning environment with conventional classrooms that branch off central corridors. With the two-story addition, the District wanted to do more with less – more opportunities for learning in the smaller addition. So, every space is a space for learning. Corridors include furniture that can be used for break-out groups or one-on-one instruction, and classrooms are highly flexible to encourage a variety of teaching styles.

Carpenters’ Union Training Facility

Kansas City – St. Louis Carpenters’ Training Facility

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

  • Adaptive Reuse
  • 68,000 SF
  • $5.7 million

Apprentices and instructors have the room and storage they need for all their trades to learn in this new training facility. 

Moving from an older, smaller space to an adapted former big box store gave the Carpenters Union not just the right amount but the right type of space to combine its training facility with its regional offices. Apprentices split their time between classrooms and the workshop, so every classroom is physically or visually connected to the workshop. Large graphics make the room numbers easily visible from anywhere in the facility.

This facility also serves as the regional office for the Carpenters Union of Kansas City – St. Louis. The front of the space features an administrative suite, and the facility also has the ability to open up for public events including community meetings and political rallies.

St. Elizabeth Early Childhood Center

St. Elizabeth Early Childhood Center

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

  • St. Elizabeth Catholic School
  • Renovation/Addition
  • 20,000 SF
  • $4 million

DIOCESE OF KANSAS CITY-ST. JOSEPH CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

For years, the St. Elizabeth Early Childhood Center was located across a high-traffic street from the Catholic Church, calling for their youngest students to journey back and forth multiple times a day. Hollis + Miller designed a master plan for the Church, putting high priority on uniting the Early Childhood Center, K-8 school and the Catholic Church on the same side of the street. The new design does just that, providing peace of mind for staff and parents, and also allows opportunities for growth and adaptations in the future.

The renovated rectory building hosts eight new classrooms for pre-k and kindergarten students. The rectory, a residential home for members of the clergy, challenged the design team to develop innovative solutions transforming the space into a learning environment. The design incorporates research-based learning tools and showcases a touch of tradition with the existing stone walls of the rectory, as well as the connecting Church. The new early childhood center features a learning stair and sliding classroom walls for co-teaching, shared storage areas and indoor/outdoor collaboration spaces to expand fine motor skills. A large balcony serves as a flexible commons area and gathering space for students, staff and parish members.

Learnscape-Shawnee Mission School District

LEARNSCAPE 2018

  • Shawnee Mission School District
  • Sunflower Elementary School

An immersive outdoors experience is at Sunflower Elementary School’s students fingertips, with hands-on learning happening everywhere.

Hollis + Miller embarked on a Learnscape journey with SMSD and its students to create an outdoor classroom supporting the students’ desires and the district’s sustainability goals. As part of the process, the students identified their highest priorities for the district, which included incorporating school gardens and natural areas.
The completed space encourages students to discover the natural environment by interacting with the area in different ways. Students can study water conservation benefits by utilizing the on-site cistern as they tend to planter boxes created for each grade level to learn about lifecycles and ecology. A solar panel on the roof of a large, covered deck gives students an up-close connection to alternative energy sources. Even the area’s signage doubles as a musical instrument, teaching students about the physics of sound.

Soaring Heights Elementary School

Soaring Heights Elementary School

JOPLIN, MISSOURI

  • Joplin School District
  • New Construction
  • 66,500 SF total
  • $13.5 million

One-of-a-kind collaborative spaces encourage impromptu idea sharing and intimate one-on-one learning.

The Learning Park, Tree House and Theatre in the Park are all flexible learning spaces unique to Soaring Heights. The flexible design emboldens educators and students to adapt their learning environment to the lesson.

This school replaces the elementary school lost on May 22, 2011, when the worst tornado disaster on record to date in the United States hit the City of Joplin.