John S. McCain III Elementary School

John Dewey, at the turn of the 20th Century, put forth a vision for modern education and re-imagined a future in which schools “carefully balance the delivery of knowledge and learning through active inquiry.” John S. McCain III Elementary School embraces and epitomizes these ideals and is designed as a C-STEM school that provides opportunities to learn through inquiry while simultaneously embedding an underlying architecture that foster social emotional learning. The school features a learning community-based organization with three learning communities initially operated along traditional age-based grade bands but easily adapts to an ability-based cohort organized around pedagogies involving teacher facilitated-student directed learning.

The learner-centric communities feature multi-dimensional infrastructures that support brain-based learning modalities, and offer a high degree of flexibility, variety and collaborative opportunities at multiple scales. High performance and biophilic design principles such as ample natural light, views, access to the outdoors, and balance of prospect and refuge, etc., help cater to occupant wellness while creating a solid foundation for higher order learning. The life, legacy, and ethics of Senator McCain are embedded through a branding strategy employing computational design, as traits for students to unpack through the course of their development and growth at the school.