Follow-up: Hailey's Waldorf School Design

In my last post, Design Students, I wrote about talking to university design students about things to consider when re-designing a warehouse space to be a school. I was thrilled when Marlis reached out to one of the students, Hailey Bell, and asked if it was okay for me to share some of her project on this blog so you could see the awesome work these students did. 

 

Here are some screenshots of Hailey's Waldorf-Steiner based school concept, which she titled, "Little Village."  The text in the screenshots and in italics are all Hailey's.

CONCEPT 

At the heart of the warm, organic Little Village school lies the weaving-inspired community areas weaving being a symbol of strength in unity which embodies the collaborative spirit and interconnectedness of its members. 

In contrast, the classrooms at Little Village are designed to be distinct, welcoming, & reminiscent of residential spaces. Each classroom offers a variety of zones tailored to support Waldorf's rhythmic daily schedule, empowering students take ownership of their environment and cultivate sense of responsibility. 

 ZONING 

• All classrooms radiate from central atrium landmark.  

• Community support spaces are multifunctional areas of the school during off-hours for community events & classes (which requires grouped and lockable staff zones off for security). 

• Create home-like classrooms for students along perimeter with best access to natural light & views. 

• Co-creation art opportunities for students throughout the school public circulation spaces with adjacent resting & observation points.

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Marlis has done an excellent job of teaching, motivating, and inspiring her students with assignments and experiences like these.  Hailey's project is one example of the fine work Marlis is doing. 

Hailey sent me 5 of her slides from her condensed pages (as well as the file for her full project) and gave me permission to share as much I wanted. You can see the attention to detail, to texture, to tone, to flow, and to community that Waldorf-based schools emphasize in their learning spaces. On this post, I wanted to give readers a sense of the wonderful thought and design work Hailey put into this school concept. And not give too much away so some design firm can hire Hailey Bell to see the rest!

Design Students

Marlis asked me to talk to her design students about classroom design.  When she told me that she gave her students the project of designing a school space, it started to make more sense of why she wanted me to present to her students.  A little.  

Let's back up a bit.  Marlis is one of our dearest friends.  She was my wife's Maid of Honour and hosted our little wedding at her mom's cabin.  She was the mastermind when we renovated our kitchen.  I think it was then that I told her about the design experiments I was doing in my classroom.  

Fast forward 8 years. Marlis is a design instructor at a university and tasks her students with redesigning a school in an existing warehouse space. As an added layer of complexity, interest, and realism, each of the students was asked to design a school space with one of four specific schools in mind: Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Waldorf, and a school for the deaf.  

I still didn't understand how I could help her students when she asked me to talk her students about what I was doing, seeing as I teach in a regular public school. She explained that I offer a unique perspective as s classroom teacher who thinks about design and has been experimenting with spaces and furniture.  

So I put together a presentation that was mainly based on this blog.  The main themes were:

1. My design journey 

I talked about how I came to classroom design by accident.  

2. Classroom Design in service of self-regulation 

I talked about how my intention is for the space to say what I want it to say and to do what I want it to do, and not just make things look pretty.
            

3. Design as Learning

First, I talked about the different design challenges I have given my students in the past.  This was so that Marlis's students could see how design is part of the ADST curriculum even at younger grades.

Then I talked about how I gave my grade 2 and 3 students the same challenge that Marlis gave her students.  The difference was that  my young students had to fit our current school into the urban warehouse space that Marlis assigned to her students.  My teams had 3 design tasks: an individual classroom layout, a whole floor (showing how the classrooms were distributed, the hallways, bathrooms, etc.), and an indoor play space.  One of the biggest challenges for the warehouse space was there were pillars holding up the ceiling about every 5 metres.  My students used their creativity and some put in sliding doors to transform the spaces, or they mounted TV monitors on both sides of the pillars so everyone could see.  Below is an example of a whole floor plan.  

4. COVID considerations

Here, I talked about how the pandemic totally changed the way that my classroom looked and worked.  Instead of contact and togetherness, it was distance and building a safe community.   

5. Pros and Cons of my current building

My current site is the most beautiful school I've worked at, but there are always trade-offs.

6. Design Considerations of the 4 types of schools assigned

I've had a little exposure to each of the school models that Marlis assigned (Waldorf, Montessori, Reggio and school for the deaf). Based on my (limited) experience with these school, I tried to point out some things that her students might want to consider for each school.  

7. Some of my opinions of the assigned warehouse space

I loved the site that Marlis picked.  It was a big, open, repurposed warehouse and factory with lots of windows and high ceilings. Though there is no play or green space on site, there is a park across the street.  The wood pillars about every 5 metres were a challenge, but workable.  I also remarked about how the concrete floor and high ceilings could be uncomfortable and fatiguing based on the hardness and noise reflection (which I experienced when my classroom was a gym shared by 2 classes while we waited a few weeks for our portables to arrive).  

After I presented all this, Marlis facilitated a little dialogue between the students and me.  I could tell that they were already in the thick of their projects. I also had a chance to solicit some advice about some design issues in my school.  Though I was nervous and rushed through my presentation, I thought the overall experience of talking to Marlis's students was a good one.  

Epilogue

Later, Marlis sent me one of the designs that her student had put together for a Waldorf school.  It was excellent. It showed a detailed plan of how a Waldorf school could be envisioned in the assigned warehouse space. I though that the student designer had a real sense of the Waldorf philosophy and incorporated that into their design.  As a client, I would be happy that they “got” what Waldorf is trying to achieve.  I think they nailed the palette, tones, and feel: organic, natural, non-industrial, low tech,  etc.  The design put the atrium as the central hub of the school, around which the little village of learning spaces revolved.  I thought that would bring the community together literally and symbolically.  I was really impressed.  

 

Impact: "I don't remember anything you taught."

Reconnecting

Frank found me at lunch in the staff room, and he brought me a package that had come in the school mail.  I took it and looked at it.  It was a bulging envelope that looked like a child had written the address.  It wasn't ticking but I still went back to my classroom to open it. I'm glad I did.

Inside was an amazing card filled with heartfelt words from Stephanie, a student from over 20 years ago.  There was also a picture of Stephanie and her beautiful family.  The bulging part was this pre-inked stamp that had an impression of my face and my name on it.  I was struck by the time, thought, and work that went into all of this.  I was deeply moved and was glad I opened this in the privacy of my classroom at lunch.  

Luckily, Stephanie had included her email address.  When my students returned to the classroom, I told them about the card and the contents of the envelope.  I told them this could be them in 20 years; I think it was stunning for them to think they will grow up, get jobs, become mommies and daddies, and might still have the wherewithal to write to that weird teacher they had back then.  My grade 2/3 students started asking me questions, and instead of answering them myself, we wrote Stephanie a quick email, thanking her for the package, and asking her their questions.  Steph was great.  Even though she is a busy working parent, she answered the students' questions. 

She and I also sent emails back and forth.  She explained how she found me (I tend to move around, as you know) and that her son in kindergarten had written my name and address on the package .  She also updated me on her life and about students who were in my class the year I taught her.  She still keeps in touch with some of them!  Some were married with and without children. Their travels. There were people in property development, finance, tech, law, a chef, a pilot, etc.  Some are still close friends and were in each others' wedding parties.  It was interesting to see how everyone turned out.  

I remember that year well. It was kind of magical.  They were a really nice bunch of kids who were up for any idea I had. I was returning to elementary after teaching at middle school for a couple of years.  My first year at PWE could have been a disaster. As teachers know, a first year in any school can be rough as you figure out who's who in the zoo.  But this group came together very quickly.  It was like a family.  Sure, we got on each other's nerves and had some tension now and then, but like any family, we knew we were there for each other.  

And that was a straight grade 5 class. Here in my district, students go off to middle school in grade 6, so we just had one year together. No getting to know me as they went from kindergarten to grade 4. I had no history with them, no reputation. No, we had a very definite 10 months to be together.  (Less actually because I was off almost the entire month of February when I had a couple of dental appointments, I caught a bad flu, and then my daughter was born.  My daughter's hospital pictures have excellent pictures of me red-nosed and missing my front teeth.)  For a while, I kept in touch with that class through Facebook and we even had a couple of reunions. 

What we remember 

The part that I want to share with you here is the part when Stephanie wrote about what she remembers that I taught her: nothing.

She checked with her friend, Katbie, who was also in that class and she said the same: nothing.  "We honestly don't really remember what we learned..."

Interesting, I recently received an email from Jason who I taught a few years later than Stephanie but at the same school, and without prompting, he wrote, "To be honest, I have no idea what you taught us..."

Now, you might might think as a teacher, this would be horribly, horribly depressing to hear that my students remember nothing from what I taught them, but I think what my former students write is an important message for us teachers to hear: the part that stays with our students is not WHAT we teach them, but it is HOW THEY FELT while they were learning that has the lasting impact.  

Steph and Katbie did not remember the "big things" I taught. They do mentioned some of the one-off or time-filling activities that I put so little thought into. The rest of the quotes from above are: "We honestly don't really remember what we learned ... but we definitely remember all the fun we had when we here learning," and Jason's "To be honest, I have no idea what you taught us...but I recall clearly the way you treated us."

We teachers put so much time and energy into the details.  We sweat over the littlest things.  Of course we are paid to teach content.  Of course we are trained to teach skills and concepts.  But if we want long-term, lasting effects, these former students can testify that it is all about the feelings and relationships that we nurture within them that will have the most IMPACT.  Even at this late stage in my teaching, I am grateful for this reminder and lesson from my former students.   

Thank you, my friends.  

___________________________________________

Classroom Design postscript

When I taught Stephanie, Katbie, and Jason, I was not really thinking at the front of my mind about classroom design, but back then I was thinking about what conditions I needed to teach the way I wanted to teach. Steph sent me photos from the year I taught her, and it is funny: in none of them are the students all sitting in their desks, and in none of them am I standing at the front of the classroom.  I guess even then, furniture was a fluid thing.  Heck, back then I was more of a fluid thing.  I was starting to think back then: "What do I want my classroom to do?" and "What do I want my classroom to say?"

Here is one of the photos that Stephanie sent:

Apparently, I decided to hold a volleyball game in the classroom.  

What do I like here?

• I like how young I look and how black my hair is.
• I like seeing all those familiar faces.
• About design, Greg?  Oh, right.
• Desks are in different configurations for different kinds of purposes.  
• Some wood-natural elements.
• High ceiling with lots of light.
• The pull down map (remember those?) was really used as a pull down screen for my overhead projector (remember those?)
• No teacher desk in sight.
• Carpet was quiet and comfortable, and only being a few years old, did not smell. 
• The hanging vitruvian man-like (dudes in a circle) art.  I should do that again.  

Things I would change:

• Design?
• Visual distraction: take down the posters. They were bright, distracting, cluttery, and I never referred to them.  Just visual noise.  
• Yikes!  Is that a CHALK board?!
• Tall, open shelving.  See above about visual distraction.
• Desks? No, back then, it was really the only game in town.
• Maybe create different zones for different activities?  Tough with 28+ students in a late 90s classroom.  
• The suspenders.  They gave me shoulder pain, though they did keep my pants up when I did not have a paunch. Yet.

The New Building, Finally.

You might remember that last year I moved to a new school after swearing I'd never move to another new school.  You may remember that we were housed in a different school last year while we waited for this school to be finished.  You may remember that my wife broke her hip earlier that August.  The week before we opened in our new building, we unpacked and moved in.   

Going down the ramp to the lower section

The tour

Actually, let me back up a bit.  Back in June, on the actual last day of school (no kids), while we went out for breakfast to say goodbye to our excellent host school, Frank (CSE principal) arranged to have our boxes and materials moved to the new building.  While we didn't get to unpack and arrange our stuff, we did get to tour our new site for about an hour.  

We were very excited!

Because our school was still under construction, we could not stay all day.  To add to the excitement, we even met the new hires: new teachers and an education assistant.  

June 2023.  Still under construction.

The back side where one playground goes,
in front of the gym and the library/learning commons.

The "before" shot:
My teaching mountain
(Can you see the dismantled risers?)

Okay, now fast forward to August.  

I had one day to unpack my stuff to be reasonably set up for school.  No, this wasn't a district or a school or even a construction restriction of time; it was the limit I set on myself.  I wanted to be at home as much as possible to help my still-recuperating wife with care and driving to appointments.

Usually, I like to take at least a week, to get used to a space and chat with my co-workers, (How was your summer, nice new shirt/tan/tattoo/spouse, etc.), but this time, I sent an email telling people I only had a day to get ready and I was going to close my door and just get it done.  They were very understanding.

I cranked up the tunes, and chipped away at the pile of stuff I had, lovingly collected over 3 decades.  I went with a zone defense, dismantling the mountain a box a time, putting stuff in pre-determined zones so I would not have to retrace my steps.  

I amazed myself and got to a point that I had things looking reasonably organized and ready for my first group of students.  I must have also amazed one of the district guys who moved the stuff in because he walked by and told me he didn't think my classroom was going to be ready for September based on the volume of stuff he moved in.   

Here are some "after" pictures of how my classroom looked for the first week:

nice big windows with a generous counter

Frank ordered these versatile tables on wheels.
Some have whiteboard surface and
the tops all flip up for storage and for display.
(Notice: no risers.)

A decent amount of storage

The interiors of the rest of the school all have a warm feeling, using natural textures and light:

A cozy nook under the stairs
for reading or just relaxing, refreshing, or refocusing.

Well-lit hallways
with warm, wood panels

They built a school on the side of a mountain?

There are challenges to building a school on the side of a mountain.  The kindergarten students have to go down some stairs to get to their doors to their classes.  If you kick a soccer ball over the fence, you can kiss it goodbye.  It confuses they heck out of people when they come out of the parking lot to go to the office, and then they realize that the front of the school is on the top floor and the rest of the school is downstairs.  

But there are some huge upsides to having a school on a mountain:

1. We have a great trail that runs beside our school.

2. We have a cool playground that is incorporated into the side of the hill. Students could get dropped off above and take the slide down to their classrooms below.

3. The views.

Photo by Carrie V.
I've lived here for decades and I did not know such a view even existed.

(Carrie V is winning our photo contest)

Visitors who come to our school on days like these are always late because they can't pull themselves away from the parking lot.  

What is your new school like?

It was a long wait to get into our new building, but it was definitely worth the wait.  The daily buses are now distant memories.  Our first year core of teachers and staff was amazing and our new people are stunningly awesome.  The new building is a great facility in a breathtaking setting.  

What does my new school feel like?  It feels like home.  

home

The Trip

We LOVE(d) Montreal.  The food, the culture, the language, the history, etc.  Sure, we were snowed in at the airport once for 7 hours.  Sure, we almost got diverted due to a freak rainstorm another time, but it is Montreal.   And when my wife and I decided to take a romantic get away, we knew where we wanted to go.  It was the summer.  What could go wrong?

We checked out of our hotel after a glorious week in Montreal and had five hours to kill before heading to the airport, so we decided to walk to a museum gift store about 20 minutes away to buy a few souvenirs.  About 5 minutes into our walk, B tripped on some uneven pavement and fell.  

When she had trouble getting to her feet, we called an Uber to take us back to our hotel.  When she was in so much pain that the Uber driver had to carry her into the back of the car, we asked him to reroute to a hospital.  In the back of the car, B told me she thought she broke her leg.  The car pulled up and our driver ran in and got B a wheelchair and moved her into it.  Thanking him and reminding myself to tip him well, I wheeled B into the hospital.  

We ended up at the main and deserted entrance to the hospital, and all the signs were in French.  We were able to work out that "Urgence" was in the basement, and after a little wait and a lot of patience with our French, the hospital was able to admit B in Emergency. After looking at the x-ray, the Emergency doctor confirmed that B broke her hip, and that she would be operated on sometime this week, and recovery would be at least a month.  It was a lot to process: B's pain, a broken bone, surgery, staying in Montreal a month, missing the start of school, etc.  All we could ask was, "I guess we are not getting on our plane today?"

Here is how things actually played out: B was operated on the next day and admitted to a room in the orthopedic wing.  The day after that, B received some physio and I went out to buy her a walker.  The hospital wanted to release B later that day, but they didn't realize we were from out of province.  We also wanted to know more about a complication that occurred during surgery because it was going to affect her recovery.  The next day, the surgeon explained to us what had happened during surgery and that B could only put 50% weight on that leg until the bone healed.  We were then released.  A cab took us to an airport hotel.  On-line we miraculously found and booked two bulkhead seats on a flight that was leaving the next day!  As the Uber driver was driving us to the airport, we were telling him about our experience, and he said, "I think God is telling you not to come to Montreal."

No Thanks to:

• unnamed Insurance company.  I bought cancellation insurance, only to be told after, the insurance I bought (the only one offered) was valid up until the occurrence of the first flight, and did not cover trip extension. 
• unnamed airport hotel.  Painters banging at 6:30 am, and how can you screw up French pancakes in Quebec?

Thanks to:

• Terence, the Uber driver who picked B off the sidewalk.
• Inter-province medical.  After signing a form at Admitting, we haven't received a medical bill for anything.
• Le Petit Hotel.  We had a wonderful stay there for the first 7 days of our trip, then they stored our luggage for us after we checked out and while B was in the hospital.
• Smartphones.  While B was in the hospital, I had no where to stay.  (We checked out of Le Petit Hotel, remember?)  I kept having to move hotels because of availability, location, and accessibility.  Luckily, with my phone, I was able to find a place, book it, then navigate to and from it.  I stayed in 3 different places in 4 days.  My phone also helped me with transportation, translation from French, food (all good except the tortellini disguised as wonton), pharmacies, the walker, and communication with friends and family. 
• Remi.  Remember my principal who moved to Quebec?  Somehow he found out about B's injury and got in touch.  It was great having him as a go-to in case our French or Google Translate failed.  
• Air Canada.  Yes, Air Canada.  When we got to the long regular check-in line for the flight home, the Air Canada associate took one look at hobbling B and redirected us to Accessibility Services. The associate there took our luggage, then got us an accessibility rolling chair for B that would hold our carry-on and her walker.  The special chair got us to the front of the hour long security line up.  There was accessibility seating at the gate.  When our flight was called, we got on first as two big guys used a special skinny rolling chair to lift B into the plane and to her seat.  The bulkhead seats were perfect: lots of leg room, near the bathroom, and B was protected from traffic up and down the aisles and no one had to pass in front of her to get to the aisle.  Two different guys picked B up and got her out of the plane.
• JetSet Parking.  When they heard about B's hip surgery, they parked our car right by the exit doors.
• Friends and family who dropped off food, flowers, cards and well wishes.

The MVP in all this (besides B):

• Kevin.  When he heard about B's hip, he asked what could he do.  When we came home, Kevin had installed a second very hefty hand rail so B could sleep in her own bed upstairs.  It was a game changer.  Even before our trip, Kevin had offered to renovate our bathtub that we had not used in four years because of an intermittent leak that would drip into the light fixture below.  We took B's hip as a sign that we needed a walk-in shower.  Kevin ended up renovating the whole room: new shower, rerouting the plumbing, re-drywalling the walls and ceiling, tiling the floor and the shower, new fan and light fixtures, new vanity, new toilet, and then painting.  It was amazing what he did and he spent so much time away from his family.  We are so grateful for his expertise and his friendship.    

The experience we had was a roller coaster, full of unexpected twists and turns.  It definitely made us rethink the way we look at accessibility, sidewalks, and Montreal.