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Learning by doing is a philosophy that dominates at Inly School. So it came as no surprise that the school wanted to make the construction project an extension of the classroom. Because of the project’s central location on campus, we were easily able to take advantage of the construction work and involve the entire school community from day one – and from the moment the kids stepped out of the car in the morning.

The front of the new building was located right at the drop off point for students coming to school in the morning. To encourage their curiosity about the project, we put view holes in the construction screening, so the students could observe the construction activities and progress.

“It seemed appropriate to acknowledge the elephant in the middle of our campus,” said Head of School Donna Milani Luther. “Everything in a school can be an opportunity; learning shouldn’t only take place between four walls. Everyone on the project team was on board with that idea and was dedicated to the learning process.”

We partnered with the school to create several learning opportunities for the students throughout the project.

 

Superintendent for a Day

One lucky student won Superintendent for a Day through a school fundraiser. The student and the student’s father shadowed our superintendent as he went about his daily activities managing the construction of the project that would eventually become the student’s classroom building. They found the program especially interesting, because they were in the process of building a new house of their own.

 

8th Grade Internship

At Inly School, all eighth graders are required to participate in a weeklong internship before graduating. One student was so inspired by the construction going on outside his classroom window, that he decided to do his internship right there on the jobsite. He shadowed our superintendent everywhere, sat in on meetings, talked to the subcontractors and more. The student had such a great experience, he thinks he may pursue a career in construction.

 

Weaving History and Construction Together

The students were studying measurement and architecture in ancient civilizations. While they were learning about the Great Wall of China, our Superintendent organized a class that integrated our construction project with the structural components of the Great Wall. This received wonderful feedback and allowed the students to relate to something that happened centuries ago.

 

Model Building

The architect, Tom Peterman, led a math lesson with the fifth and sixth graders. He showed the students the plans for the building, then had the students convert the plans to a smaller size by drawing them to scale. Finally the kids made their own model of the building. They used the 3D printer to create the middle structure and cardboard to build the rest. They partitioned off the spaces to make the classrooms, library, barn, tree and other parts of the building.

 

Topping-Off Ceremony

During the construction, C.E. Floyd organized two topping-off ceremonies. The first was a traditional beam topping-off ceremony where students and faculty signed the final steel beam that would be placed onto the structure.

The second topping-off ceremony was much less traditional. Inly School has several brightly decorated cow statues sprinkled across its campus. The dynamic Head of School decided to take this one step farther and personally install a cow weathervane atop the new building. Our Superintendent and Safety Team worked diligently to ensure this would be done in the safest way possible. This included many dry runs and the purchase of a safety harness and other safety equipment for Milani Luther. The ceremony had an excellent turnout and brought excitement and support to the project.

 

Additional opportunities at Inly

• C.E. Floyd Superintendent Mark Giglio, Architect Tom Peterman and OPM Steve Ceglarski addressed an all-school assembly to talk about their profession and their specific role on the project.
• The C.E. Floyd staff gave numerous tours of the project to students, parents and other community members.
• Giglio read Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site to the Toddler House children and did a show and tell with some of his tools.
• Giglio went into the older classes to show the students the construction drawings. He talked about how the architect creates the building on paper and how the contractor turns those drawings into a building. Afterwards, he took each class on a tour of the project.

 

Giglio reflected on the project, “When you get the kids involved it really brings a building to life. The kids feel like they’re involved in the project, and it’s an experience they’ll remember for the rest of their life.”

 

About the project:

C.E. Floyd partnered with Peterman Architects to build The Grealish Family Pavilion, a two-story classroom building addition including a library and a robotics and digital classroom, at Inly School in Scituate. The large entrance space connects to two other buildings in the heart of the campus. Because of its central location, site logistics and communication between neighbors and school staff, faculty and parents was a critical component of this project that needed to be addressed daily.

 

Contact us to learn more about how we can help you with your next construction project.