• The Arthur A. Richards PreK-8 School opened Aug. 7 on St. Croix after a multiyear design and construction effort.听
• The 139,000-square-foot campus is designed for 735 students and replaces facilities damaged by hurricanes Irma and Maria.听
• The school includes 32 classrooms, three labs and maker spaces, shaded outdoor areas, a gymnasium that can serve as a storm shelter, onsite water听storage听and solar power.听
• The project is the first new school building constructed in the U.S. Virgin Islands in听nearly three听decades.听

By Lindsey Coulter

CROIX, U.S. Virgin Islands 鈥� The new Arthur A. Richards PreK-8 School has opened on St. Croix, marking a major milestone in the U.S. Virgin Islands鈥� effort to replace and modernize public school facilities damaged by hurricanes Irma and Maria.The project is part of a multi-year, $264 million redevelopment effort.

鈥淭his is more than the opening of a new school,鈥� V.I. Education Commissioner Dionne Wells-Hedrington said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony听on听Aug.听7,听according to the听. 鈥淚t is听an听opening of a new chapter in education in the Virgin Islands. For more than 30 years, we have not built a new public facility of this听magnitude. Today, we are not simply catching up 鈥� we are setting the bar.鈥�听

The 139,000-square-foot campus, built on the site of the former Evelyn M. Williams Elementary School, is designed to serve 735 students. The project brought together MCN Build as builder, Perkins Eastman as architect of record and DLR Group as design criteria architect, with local firm听CariBuild听participating听on听the design-build team.听

Arthur A. Richards PreK-8 was designed around how students learn, feel safe, and grow. Small learning communities keep classrooms close-knit, while a dedicated early learning building serves the school’s youngest students. Shaded outdoor spaces, a central gathering area, and a gymnasium that doubles as a storm shelter support both everyday school life and community events. Thirty-two classrooms, three labs and maker spaces, and one-to-one laptops give students hands-on learning opportunities, while onsite water storage and solar power help the school reopen quickly after a major storm.听听

“From the beginning, our process was about listening 鈥� to the community, to the environment, to what students in St. Croix actually need from their school,鈥� said design leader Mary Rankin, AIA, Principal at Perkins Eastman, in a statement. 鈥淭o have gone from groundbreaking to ribbon-cutting in just two and a half years, without losing sight of that, is something the entire team should be proud of. This building was designed for these students, and it will serve them, and the community, for generations.”听

Turning that student-centered design into a finished school took the work of hundreds of local tradesmen and women. At its peak, the project employed 270 tradesmen and women at once, with听roughly 400听members of the total workforce drawn directly from the USVI labor pool.听听

“Every child deserves an equal opportunity to learn and grow. This team gave St. Croix a school that makes that possible,” said Rudy Seikaly, Chief Executive Officer of MCN Build, in a statement.听

Resilience was also a central part of the project. Onsite water storage and solar power are intended to support continued operations and help the school reopen more quickly after a major storm. The project team described the campus as a model for high-performance educational design suited to Caribbean conditions.听

The opening gives St. Croix a new PreK-8 campus as the territory advances a broader school reconstruction program. The Arthur A. Richards project is the first newly constructed school building in the territory in听nearly three听decades and is now positioned to serve students,听families听and community activities for years to come.听

For DLR Group Senior Principal and K-12 Education Design Leader Pamela Loeffelman, FAIA, the opening carries听particular meaning.听听

“The grand opening for Arthur A. Richards PreK-8 School marks a significant milestone in the reimagination of what education can look like in the U.S. Virgin Islands,鈥� Loeffelman听said in a statement. 鈥淚t serves as the catalyst for the continued transformation we’ll see across the Islands for the next 10 years.”

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U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS鈥� U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan Jr. recently announced the completion of the education facilities master plan for the听U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Education.

鈥淭oday is a good day as we celebrate a major milestone, especially in the department of education,鈥� said Governor Bryan in a statement.

鈥淚t gives me great pride and a real sense of accomplishment to launch our education schools facilities master plan. Education is the main driver in what a Virgin Islander will do for years to come, and we want to make sure we have schools that are not only equipped with the technology to power that, but with an atmosphere of warmth where teachers, students, administrators, and parents can come together and prepare the Virgin Islands children for a very bright future.鈥�

Serving as a framework for future decision-making related to the reinvention of education and educational facilities in St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas, the master plan provides an avenue to improve learning environments for the territory鈥檚 10,000 students.

For the past three years, the Virgin Islands has continued to recover following the catastrophic damage Hurricanes Irma and Maria caused across the territory in 2017, including destruction to multiple schools and educational support facilities. With many of the schools in the Virgin Islands 40 years and older, they are outdated and do not meet today鈥檚 educational standards.

The master plan calls for a reduction of facilities from 32 to 18 and a shift to a programming model of grades Pre-K-8 and 9-12 to ensure equity between the islands and the schools. Six schools will be constructed and 12 will receive modernizations and/or expansions, and all learning environments will be updated to support future-ready learning.

DLR Group听developed the master plan following a six-month, community-based process to engage government officials, stakeholders, patrons, educational leaders, teachers, students, parents, and industry partners. The firm is partnered with Witt O鈥橞rien鈥檚, a leader in crisis and emergency management.

鈥淭he completion of the master plan is the first step toward defining how facilities can make a difference in the lives of every learner in the Virgin Islands,鈥� explained DLR Group Principal听Pam Loeffelman, FAIA.

鈥淭here is tremendous anticipation to see the community鈥檚 vision become reality in the coming years, and we look forward to moving on to the next stage of development.鈥�

Funding for school modernizations and new construction outlined in the master plan will be provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency as defined by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 and will be confirmed in the next six to 12 months.

Following a successful master planning effort, DLR Group has been retained to complete design documents for the first five projects prioritized in the master plan. These bridging documents will directly integrate ideas from the master plan and will be issued as part of the request for proposals for design/build teams.

Design and construction of new and modernized schools will be phased with a target completion date of 2025.

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