Hanging Out: The Inner Function of a Student Commons
“Form ever follows function.” – Louis Sullivan
Well-designed common areas have practical functions that radiate throughout a school, but buildings have psychological functions, too. In schools, students of all ages need to “hang out” in spaces with just the right atmosphere for social and emotional development.
Funded by a 2018 referendum, the Stevens Points Area Public School District created a 17,500 square foot commons in their high school and a 5,500 square foot gymnasium at Madison Elementary. Both projects were completed in time for the 2022-23 school year. Both were the hub of a constellation of additions, renovations, infrastructure improvements, and accessibility upgrades.
Cory Hirsbrunner, Superintendent of the district, said, “Because we didn’t have the right spaces, some high schoolers had to choose between eating in the corridors or leaving campus to eat. One of our key goals was to keep the high schoolers on campus.”
WHAT GOT THE PROJECTS STARTED
Driving the elementary school gym were the practical needs to free space for food service, community groups, assemblies, study hall, clubs, Scouts, and sports. Rearranging the elementary school spaces allowed Principal Karl Bancker to expand kindergarten programming and this new elementary school gym is used 100% of the time.
The big needs for the high school commons were to keep kids on campus, to create a collegiate atmosphere, and to spread out the food service schedule (it had been tough serving 400 meals all at once). They also added storage and restrooms and improved their technical education area.
PRACTICAL FUNCTIONS
There are strong similarities between elementary school and high school commons.
Scheduling Efficiency
Having common spaces in the right places—with the right storage, equipment, furniture, and supervision—makes the school day flow smoothly, and staff can spend their time teaching. Setup and break-down of multi-use rooms devour time; this was particularly true at the elementary school. Kids couldn’t safely use the old “cafetorium” when the floors were still wet from mopping. These disruptions left students in limbo during the changeover.
Natural Flow
Common space has to be in the right place. A bubble diagram (inset) is a tool for planning “adjacencies,” the optimal proximity of spaces. There are “negative adjacencies:” For example, it isn’t ideal to have band practice right next to a study hall. At the high school, fixing the adjacencies reduced the chaos of counter-flows, helping students get to their seats on time. Nexus Solutions helped the decision-makers see the big picture.
Improved flow improves safety by guiding people naturally to the right doors. It clears lines of sight to suspicious behaviors. See the post, “Kenosha High Schoolers Refuse Entry to Principal.“
Food as Connector
Part of both common area projects were improvements to the kitchens and their support spaces, so students had more time to eat—and to eat healthier food. Few high schoolers now leave the building for lunch.
The improved kitchen allowed the high school staff to offer more culturally responsive meals. The school is now collaborating with FarmShed, a local non-profit whose mission includes “providing fun ways to enjoy food grown in central Wisconsin throughout the year.” The school hopes to build greenhouses so students can grow and eat their own food.
The Structured Uses of Unstructured Spaces
There can be “commons” spaces within other areas of a school. There are open spaces within the high school’s expanded technical education area (see our post about the Luxemburg-Casco high school’s apprenticeship program) and in the elementary school’s library. Both allowed collaboration across grade levels.
Hirsbrunner shared this story about an educator’s ultimate goal, “An elementary student loved using the open area in the library and was always helping out. One day she said to the librarian, ‘When I grow up, I want to be a librarian just like you.’”
PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS
Atmosphere is Real
The architectural brief was to create a high school commons that was safe, warm, and comfortable, and at the same time to be modern with a collegiate feel. The school leaders wanted to create a strong sense of belonging and respect that supported social-emotional learning. It was the architect’s job to combine light, color, texture, scale, rhythm, and proportion in the right way.
Community Engagement
The gym and the commons have made it easier and more attractive to parents: their attendance and involvement in sports events, performances, and student life has increased. The right arrangement of spaces has made the teachers’ jobs easier—which is of course good for the students. Investing in well-designed spaces lets students, family, and faculty feel the communicating is investing in them (see “No Two Teenagers are Alike”). Run-down, outdated buildings make students and teachers feel they’re not valued, but Hirsbrunner says having modern facilities has had “a positive effect on behaviors.”
Hanging Out
Hanging out differs between elementary and high school students. Recess is hanging out time for the young kids, a chance to burn off energy, meet and make friends, and play (something all of us could do more of). High schoolers hang out in the commons to socialize, but also to meet in their clubs, to study together, to share a meal, or meet a parent attending an event.
In A Pattern Language, Alexander, et al. write, “Provide adult guidance, both for the learning, and the social structure of the society; but keep them as far as feasible in the hands of the students.”
Engagement is proof you have the right atmosphere; the high school has a 98% attendance rate.
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How do your buildings encourage or discourage healthy connections?
What percentage of student “hanging out” time is healthy and helpful?
How do your common areas help or hinder the scheduling of other rooms?
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