Ribbon Cutting Takes Place at New, Innovative Baltimore School

BALTIMORE — The first new public school in Baltimore in the last 30 years has now opened its doors. Elmer A. Hendersen: A Johns Hopkins Partnership School and the Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Early Childhood Center, is operated by Johns Hopkins University’s School of Education and focuses on a holistic model for social and economic reform of urban neighborhoods.

The 125,000-square-foot school, designed by New York City-based Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Designers, creates a progressive learning environment for children and a laboratory for the next generation of educators. The firm landed the job after a 2011 competition sponsored by the project’s developers, East Baltimore Development Inc. The $42 million school had its official ribbon cutting ceremony on Feb. 7.

In order to deliver the best possible space for students to learn, designers decided on a different approach in order to incorporate social interaction inside the building. While most elementary schools are single buildings, the new school is a cluster of learning “containers,” or commons. Each common area is defined with higher ceilings and a central hub with spaces for lunch, learning/teaching and also an outdoor learning terrace. The common areas are central multipurpose spaces that provide a home base for nurturing student development.

The use of daylight was important in the design as well as the connection to nature to help students remain energized and engaged while at school.

“This project represents what architecture for education can really be about: enabling students, teachers and the community,” said Robert Rogers, FAIA, principal of Rogers Partners, in a statement. “Our goal was to recover and re-imagine an urban fabric rich in opportunity and optimism for East Baltimore and innovate a school concept rooted in the familiar yet ever changing, [in order] to fulfill a progressive pedagogy.”

The campus not only promotes education and a new way of learning for students, but it also has additional areas that are shared with residents and businesses in the community, including a family health center, library, auditorium and a gym.