Longmeadow Middle School Educational Planning - MSBA

With two aging middle schools, Longmeadow Public Schools entered into the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) process for Glenbrook Middle School with the goal of prioritizing the wellbeing and growth of all students.

Partnering with Jones Whitsett Architects, we led a comprehensive and exploratory educational planning process to uncover the community’s values, goals, and aspirations—and to understand how those could take shape across multiple scenarios, including renovation, renovation-addition, or new construction of one or both middle schools.

Unifying Voices Through Collaborative Planning

We facilitated a wide range of engagement activities, including student, teacher, and community design workshops, interviews, walkthroughs, and surveys. The insights gathered were continuously shared back with the district and community to ensure that every step of the process remained authentic to Longmeadow’s identity.

Throughout, we guided conversations about the educational and cultural impacts of each scenario—how design decisions could foster teacher collaboration, student exploration, and a stronger sense of belonging.

From these discussions, a new middle school for all of Longmeadow’s students emerged as the most meaningful and future-ready solution. The design organizes grade-level-based core learning communities to strengthen teacher cohort collaboration and integrates a network of collaboration-based “third spaces” throughout the building’s corridors, encouraging student exploration, autonomy, and connection.

Designing for Connection and Continuity

Our work in Longmeadow continues as we lead the FF&E (Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment) design, extending the educational vision into the everyday function and experience of the school.

This ongoing collaboration allows us to translate the district’s goals into tangible learning environments—from STEAM labs and life-skills-based Special Education programs to the flexible learning communities that define the new middle school. Seeing the project evolve from early educational visioning to detailed design is a rewarding reflection of trust, partnership, and shared purpose between our team, educators, and the community.

Client

Longmeadow Public Schools

Services

Stakeholder Engagement
Visioning
Master Planning
Physical & Program Capacity Study
Educational Program Assessment
Space Planning & Assessment

Location

Longmeadow, MA