Public Boarding Schools Pave
the Way for Optimal Learning
More than a decade ago, the SEED Foundation launched a bold vision to create public boarding schools
for underserved kids. With Marks, Thomas Architects as the master plan and lead architecture firm, SEED’s
vision is now a reality and primed for expansion nationwide.
THE CHALLENGE
Gang-ridden neighborhoods, incarcerated parents, inadequate
nutrition, unmet learning needs — many underserved urban
kids in the United States face a range of challenges, and few
get the level of support they need to overcome obstacles and
pave a path to success.
The SEED Foundation, a national non-profit based in Washington,
D.C., set out to change the plight of underserved students with
an innovative learning model: public boarding schools.
While most boarding schools come
with hefty price tags and a student
body from the upper echelon, SEED
envisioned a tuition-free school in
which 400 middle and high school
students spend five days on
campus and weekends at home.
SEED also wanted to provide a rigorous college preparatory and
life skills curriculum, along with a close-knit community that
“takes students out of the challenging situations they’ve been
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living in and gives them ’round-the-clock support in a positive
environment,” says the organization’s manager of campus
development, Sean Regan.
Pulling off this new kind of school wouldn’t come easily. Unlike
charter schools, which most states recognize and fund partially
on a per-student basis, “boarding school wasn’t even in the
books as a viable public school option,” explains Michael Blake,
a principal at Marks, Thomas Architects and lead architect on
the SEED projects since 2000. So the first step — and biggest
hurdle — was getting state legislators to modify or write a new
law that puts boarding school on the table and devotes public
funds to a portion of the project.
Public funds, though, could only carry SEED so far. The team
also needed to secure private funding for capital construction,
a process that happens incrementally over several years. This
required a high degree of nimbleness from Mark, Thomas
Architects and everyone involved. With a typical client, the
money is available all at once, but with each of the three
existing SEED schools, “our team did a lot of pre-planning and
preparing that enabled us to move forward rapidly when various
stages of the funding became available,” Blake explains.
Today, SEED owns and operates public boarding schools in
D.C., Baltimore, and Miami, with plans for a school in Cleveland
well underway, and the goal to make boarding school an option
for far more kids nationwide.
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THE WORK
Defining a process
Marks, Thomas Architects, for each of the three existing
schools, approached the work from both a national and local
vantage point. While some of the designs they created served
as prototypes that could largely be used on any SEED campus,
they couldn’t “just simply insert a prototype and expect it to work
the same in Baltimore as it does in Miami,” says Blake. They
needed to learn a lot at the local and state level — and adapt
each school to the specific needs of the community, school
district, and students who would live, learn, and grow there.
Selecting the site, developing a master plan
The next step in the process was finding a suitable site. For
the SEED School of Maryland, the team considered several
possibilities before settling on a solution: a long-term lease
on Southwestern High School, a vacated property owned by
the Baltimore public school system. The original school was
situated on a 52-acre lot, making it large enough for the kind
of interconnected, pedestrian-friendly campus SEED had in
mind. But it was “a large, honking masonry building for 2,500
students and next to no natural light,” Regan says.
At the same time, they needed to systematize and streamline
as much of the process as possible, given the plan to infiltrate
the national market and eventually build SEED schools in
several states. So for the second school, the team set out to
make the SEED School of Maryland a model that could be
replicated, to the extent possible, in other places. The process
wasn’t as simple as a linear progression from point A to B.
Several variables complicated the process — and required
the team to work on multiple parts simultaneously.
Gaining approval, finding funding
As Marks, Thomas Architects worked to define a process,
SEED moved forward on convincing state and local leaders that
a public boarding school was a worthy initiative and in finding
the funding to support it. This involved close collaboration
between Marks, Thomas Architects and SEED, with Blake and
other team members working intricately to plan the best pitch.
Marks, Thomas Architects “attended public hearings, zoning
approvals, and other essential meetings,” Regan shares.
“Fortunately for us, they really understand the fundraising side
and helped us pull together the materials to visually convey the
kind of school community we’re trying to create for the kids.”
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From here, Marks, Thomas Architects conducted a thorough
analysis to determine what, exactly, to do with the dated
building. They could tear it down and start from scratch;
utilize all of it with a full renovation, combined with newly
constructed dormitories; or do a partial renovation, mixed with
new construction. “We ran in-depth studies on each possibility
and realized that the school, as it stood, had some unique
features that would cost a lot to replicate,” explains Blake.
“So we opted for a full renovation.”
Simultaneously, Marks, Thomas Architects worked closely
with SEED and the school’s faculty to develop a master plan
and establish fundamental design principles to push forward
SEED’s mission. Each campus needed to provide safe, highfunctioning academic and residential spaces for 400 middle
and high school students.
“In addition, the flow among
individual buildings needed to
foster a sense of “interconnectivity,”
through which students walk to and
from classes, their dormitories, and
extracurricular activities — much like
they would on a college campus.”
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Phasing the work around the funding
Building the SEED School of Maryland couldn’t happen at once.
With a capital campaign that extended more than five years,
the school came to life in stages. “The phasing of the campus
was dictated by how SEED felt the funding stream would go,”
Blake explains. “So we created a plan for year one, year two,
and so on.”
The fully-functional, modular campus welcomed its first class of
students in 2008, but it wasn’t until 2013 that the full campus
vision came to fruition.
A prototype school dormitory came first, and stemmed from
test studies run by Marks, Thomas Architects about optimal
student living facilities. Next came a series of temporary,
modular solutions that allowed the school to open and function
before all of the funds came in. “In between the construction
of the first dorm and the opening of the final phase of the
academic center, there were a half-dozen other dormitory,
academic, and student life construction projects to allow the
school to open and keep up with enrollment growth as the
funds became available,” Blake says.
THE RESULTS
Tailored to optimal learning
The SEED School of Maryland exhibits key design features
that foster a sense of community, allow students to experience
learning as an integrated part of life, and could be common to
other campuses. For one, the buildings are organized around a
central outdoor green space on which students can gather and
socialize — and find entryways to the dining hall, library, and
their dormitory’s living room. Likewise, an internal central space
in the academic building leads way to the gymnasium, library,
and auditorium. And a sky-lit atrium serves as a “town center”
in which students and faculty can gather day or night.
Other design highlights include:
•Inconspicuous campus security, including an ornamental, eight-foot-high fence surrounding the perimeter that feels less like a barrier and more like a site feature.
•A path that connects each building and the spaces
within them.
•A layout that allows the outside community to utilize campus buildings (such as the auditorium) without
disrupting students.
•“Commons” areas for families to congregate and stay involved in their child’s learning.
•Natural, glare-free light to saturate the academic building and promote learning.
•An open, transparent circulation that supports supervision.
The resulting environment allows students to immerse
themselves in rigorous studies by creating a community that
addresses their academic and social needs, provides safety
and security, and allows individual talents to be nurtured and
developed.
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A lesson in sustainability
Part of SEED’s mission is to equip students to take care of
the natural environment. And Marks, Thomas Architects took
a number of steps to remake the Maryland campus in an
ecologically responsible manner. These include:
•Recycling construction waste and diverting debris
from the landfill.
With a viable model and process in place, the SEED Foundation
is pitching its program and curriculum to other states — and
hoping to benefit the “400 kids in every U.S. city who need
adults around who care about and push them; where they have
their own desk, bed, and reading lamp; and where they can eat
three square meals a day,” Regan says.
•Installing mechanical systems with maximum
performance efficiency.
•Selecting building materials that cut down on
the use of virgin raw materials.
•Creating zones for heating and cooling the
building efficiently.
•Adding occupancy sensors to turn off unused lights.
•Equipping the custodial team with non-toxic cleaning
solutions and methods to assure good indoor air quality.
All of these elements serve as educational tools, too. An
informational brochure highlights green building materials and
conveys how and why they work. “Students use the brochure
to conduct tours for visitors that explain the science behind
the eco-friendly systems and materials,” Blake shares. “It’s
pretty amazing to see these architectural features translated
into real learning.”
College bound
This year, in 2015, the first class of the SEED School of Maryland
will graduate and leave behind the campus they’ve grown up
on and the close relationships they’ve formed with teachers
and peers. They’ll venture off to places like Morehouse College,
Xavier University, and the University of Pennsylvania. The large
majority will be the first in their family to attend college.
Despite the complexities and obstacles involved in building a
public boarding school, SEED’s perseverance is making a real
difference. “During one of the worst economic recessions on
record, we watched as a new batch of 11-year-olds showed up,
eyes wide and backpacks as big as their bodies,” recalls Regan.
“Now those bodies and backpacks are bigger, and those kids
are on the verge of adulthood. They’re going to college, and
they’re going to succeed.”
For Marks, Thomas Architects, outcomes like this are what
make the project so worthwhile.
Primed for growth
The process Marks, Thomas Architects developed with the
Maryland school paved the way for additional SEED schools
to come, from Miami to the forthcoming school in Cleveland
and other cities. “Our in-depth studies and analyses paid off
by creating a more streamlined process for other schools down
the road,” Blake explains. “We learned how to plan flexibly
around complex funding issues, what works and what doesn’t
in terms of student dorms, and a lot more.” Each campus looks
different — for instance, much of the Miami facility is made
of painted concrete with vibrant colors — but all three share
common elements and help push forward SEED’s progressive
approach to educating underserved kids.
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“Someday, these kids will come
back to their neighborhoods as
leaders, role models, and problemsolvers,” Blake shares. “That’s a
powerful combination, and exactly
what underserved kids and
communities need.”
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ABOUT THE SEED FOUNDATION
Based in Washington, D.C., the SEED Foundation establishes
college-preparatory, public boarding schools that empower
underserved students to achieve success in college and beyond
by providing a rigorous academic program, life skills curriculum,
and college transition and support services. SEED’s program
addresses issues commonly found in low-income communities.
Perhaps most importantly, SEED introduces the idea of college
to communities where college is not part of a life path. To learn
more, visit seedfoundation.com.
ABOUT MARKS, THOMAS ARCHITECTS
Founded in 1967, Marks, Thomas Architects is an established,
award-winning architectural firm focused on creating environments that enhance our clients’ business, the user experience,
and the entire community. The firm is a leader in the creation of
senior communities, student housing, adaptive reuse, waterfront housing, urban mixed-use communities, and institutional
projects. Services include architectural design, planning, urban
design, programming, sustainable design, and interior design.
For more information, visit marks-thomas.com.
HELPING SCHOOLS
Learn how Marks, Thomas
Architects turned a forgotten factory
into a mixed-use space for public
school teachers and non-profits.
Read our Miller’s Court story.
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