A Brief Tour Of The 5/6 School

The overall plan for the school district’s proposed 5/6 school has changed significantly since Hartford architect Jeter, Cook and Jepson performed their conceptual design back in December.

The building will total 162,800 square feet and accommodate 1,100 students.

The diamond-shaped, two-level facility will be divided into two distinct academic houses, “House A” and “House B,” with 44 classrooms divided between them. Classrooms will be grouped into two room clusters, with each cluster sharing a project room.

Though the two academic houses will run down separate sides of the diamond, they will essentially connect via a large media center on the main level at the north side of the building.

Off of the main entrance will be areas comprised of those facilities common to both fifth and sixth grades: administrative offices, art and music rooms, guidance department, and special education rooms.

At the heart of the school will be a large courtyard.

On the east side of the building will be a large “cafetorium” with the capability of sitting 550 students for lunch and 950 students for performances. On the west side of the building, a gymnasium will be positioned next to an auxiliary gym, both with direct access to adjacent ball fields.

The school will possess a total of four athletic fields: three softball fields, and one large, multi-purpose field.

Student drop-off by parents will be accommodated by a looped driveway in front of the school’s main entrance, facing south toward Wasserman Way, with a separate drop-off for school buses at the north end of the building.

 The school’s setup, for the most part, will remain the same if it is on the site where Cochran House now sits, though the academic houses will be flipped and parent and bus drop off areas will have a slightly different format.