Chiaravalle Montessori School
CHALLENGE
How can we create a new "heart" of Chiaravalle that embodies Montessori principles?
How might we support careful transitions, multi-age community, and child-directed learning in the design of the physical environment?
How might we honor a historically significant site and encourage community partnership with parents and neighbors?
PROJECT
Chiaravalle Montessori School is an infant through 8th grade learning community rooted in cultivating an individual child's learning journey in a diverse, community-centered context. As Chiaravalle looks to its next 50 years, TheThirdTeacher+ team and Cannon Design explored how Montessori philosophy could be expressed in shared spaces. With a historic Burnham building and a semi-public park site, this project had significant relevance to Evanston as well. This addition and renovation of the north wing –– containing physical, arts, dining, and community spaces – provided the opportunity to reinvent Chiaravalle's core and entry experiences.
Through our community-centered process, we integrated design conversations into the cultural, pedagogical, and strategic goals of Chiaravalle. The Discovery phase revealed deeply held values and aspirations of the Chiaravalle community. The hands-on Activation phase transformed principles into design drivers. Through the Design phase, we explored aspects of community partnership, cross-generational flow, and the cultural changes at the core of the project.
VISIONING + PROGRAMMING • USER RESEARCH • COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS • ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN • PRESERVATION
“Having built a space around our vision of a child-centered Montessori education, we see how space can facilitate learning first and foremost. In the North Wing, students’ needs, curiosity, and creativity come first.”
ROLE + COMPETENCIES:
ENGAGEMENT LEAD• RESEARCH + STRATEGY • WORKSHOP DESIGN + FACILITATION
Learn more about Chiaravalle and the North Wing Project.
Read the architectural summary
First day of school with the new wing. - Fall 2015.
2017, U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School U.S. Department of Education
2017, A4LE John Shaw Award, A4LE
2017, LEED Platinum Certified, U.S. Green Building Council
Process Components
Immersion Days: Observation of all ages, shared spaces, key transitions, pedagogy in action
Group interviews: with students, teachers, parents, administration, and board members
Workshops: with kindergarten/elementary/middle school students, teachers, family, and sustainability committee
Surveys: with family, administration, and teachers
Discovery & Activation
Programming & Design
Construction
Photos from Chiaravalle Montessori School
Created in collaboration with TheThirdTeacher+ and Cannon Design. Teammates included Lori Day, Teri Wright, Geoffrey Walters, Sarah Malin, Emi Day, and Trung Le.