Ross School District

70,000 square feet, 380 students

Award: 2011 Business Journal Top Projects, K-12 Education Category

Originally constructed in 1941, Ross School has long been an asset to the Town of Ross with a reputation for academic success and strong community involvement.  The 2.5 acre campus adjoins a community park and shares the vulnerability of being located in a flood plain.  After repeated episodes of damage due to flooding, a local bond measure in 2006 funded modernization, reconstruction and flood protection.  The bond monies were supplemented by a $1 million FEMA grant to lift existing buildings four feet above the flood plain.  State funding was also received from the Office of Public School Construction Facility Hardship to replace buildings that could not be lifted.

The extensive redesign features an entrance rotunda that gives the school a clear sense of entry and a focal point closer to the town’s center.  Since the campus was already built to the edges of its small site and fully surrounded by homes, streets and park property, the original footprint was retained while maximizing square footage with a second story.