EMERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL Community Consolidated School District 64
Park Ridge/Niles CCSD 64 found that their population was growing and their curriculum changing. A major community based study, under the leadership of the superintendent and board president, concluded that the district needed to re-grade their elementary schools and move sixth graders into a middle school, which would require a new school to accommodate the students. In addition to the regular challenges of design excellence and cost control, this project had	a tight timetable, construction through the winter, and a site occupied by two active schools, one of which was to be removed. The design of the school is contextual with the neighborhood and is scaled to the students that occupy it. The scale of this large multi-story building is reduced by creating a “campus” feel by setting off each of the building’s functional areas into a distinct and readable mass of it’s own. Warm toned brick and residentially scaled windows complete the design.
· Featured in American School and University– Architectural Portfolio. · Featured in Learning by Design. · Exhibited in the National School Board Association Exhibition of School Architecture.		Type of Facility Middle School Grades 6-8 Estimated Cost $17,800,000 Construction Cost $15,688,902 Construction Start June 1997 Occupancy Date August 1998