PS/IS 511k is located in the far west corner of the Borough Park neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. The design of the school has been envisioned as a direct extension of the vibrant local residential community in multiple capacities: as a school, as a gathering and event space for the community, and as a reinforcement of the surrounding urban fabric. The school is comprised of 24 classrooms for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade and 2 special education classrooms. A multi-purpose gym/auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria, community room, library, administration, and specialized group learning spaces for art, science, music, reading and speech support the classrooms. PS/IS 511k also accommodates students from the New York City city-wide special education program. The city-wide suite includes classrooms, guidance rooms, and specialized small group learning spaces. The instructional floors are organized vertically by grade level. Pre-K, K, administration and medical suite at grade, PS on levels 2-4, and IS on level 5. Simultaneously, the school is horizontally distributed across the site into the classroom, community and assembly “neighborhoods”. Turning the challenge of connecting a school that is both vertically and horizontally organized into an opportunity, the design concept expresses through architectural massing, the various “neighborhoods” based on the diversity of student age groups, and connections to the urban fabric in the details of façade articulation. Graciously day-lit stairs, and varying window aperture sizing reinforce the students’ relationship to the environment/context and architecturally celebrates a student’s journey through the day and their studies.