+ Pleasant Ridge Montessori - Education Goes Green

We started off our look at education calling out some visually and functionally exciting spaces at the U of Iowa, Yale, and Los Angeles in Education and Architecture. The newly completed Pleasant Ridge Montessori School where my commuter bus turns appears more conventional externally; it's modern yet restrained aesthetic was designed to blend with the established surroundings. Yet it's full of leading edge techonology and a landmark in green school design in Ohio, where it's expected to be the first LEED certified public elementary school.

A School Designed to Perform

Pleasant Ridge Montessori (Illustration-SHP Leading Design)

Designed by SHP Leading Design, Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) showed it off at an open house for my community on August 10th. SHP and CPS were excited about all of the green features and educational advances built into the inviting space, as was I. It gave me the opportunity to learn about leading edge school design, the Montessori system, and meet a number of my neighbors whose kids will be attending this school starting in a few weeks.

The "periodic table" graphic provided by SHP starts to sum up many of the key green design features built into the school. The techno side of me was intrigued by the efficient raised floor/dropped ceiling ventilation system, the natural lighting system that starts at the adjustable venetian blinds inside the high placement windows, the interior windows that pass the natural to the interior hallways, and the automatic motion and light sensor control of the artificial lighting when needed.

PRM Advanced Ventilation enhancing Montessori on the floor activities

We also found the extended learning areas, or "ELA's" being built into many of the new school designs food for thought, especially in light of some interviews we've had with special needs teachers.

According to promotional materials "CPS is the model for green schools in the United States and is regarded as the greenest school district in the US." You can read more about the wide range of features, projects, and design firms at Soapbox Cincinnati, and at CPS' Facilities' website .

ELA joining mutliple classrooms for team or individual projects & tutoring

Anyone would find Pleasant Ridge Montessori appealing and comfortable, but it's really what's beneath the surface here that makes it a high tech performer!