Northfield residents will be getting a new educational facility next summer for children in grades four through eight. A new 70,000-square-foot Sunset Ridge School has broken ground and District 29 Board of Education President, Debbie Papas, said it will come at no additional cost to its taxpayers.
Wight & Company and Pepper Construction are working on the state-of-the-art project, which will be seeking LEED certification. The new school is being built on the corner of Sunset Ridge Road and Willow Road. It will be located adjacent to the existing school located at 525 Sunset Ridge Road, which will later be torn down.
School Superintendent, Edward Stange, said students can expect a larger gym facility, a dedicated theater space and a variety of modern, educational spaces.
“This is what we call ‘a future ready learning environment,'” Stange said. “The process of learning in the school environment has evolved. It’s much more collaborative, interactive and technology-based, and this trend will continue, so we have to design learning spaces that can adapt to changing curriculum.”
Additional design features include: a library within the academic wing that is part forward-thinking learning center and part “maker’s space” where students can build, explore and create; science and language laboratories; natural lighting throughout the interior spaces; and breakout rooms for individual learning.
Sunset Ridge School is expected to open in August 2017.
