SHAW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Dodson & Flinker collaborated with T2 Architecture on the design of a new building and landscape for Raymond E. Shaw Elementary School in Millbury, MA, which serves 550 students in grades 3-6. Dodson & Flinker’s site design weaves in play and outdoor classroom spaces throughout the landscape, creating opportunities to expand outdoor experiences beyond recess. Playground features include wood-and-rope climbing structures, a zip line, and swings, plus stump scrambles and embankment slides built into the adjacent hillside. Accessible outdoor classroom spaces in the nearby woodlands and wetlands help teachers bring lessons outside, and elements like  a low ropes course, a traversing wall, and raised garden beds are provided for use by the school’s physical education, occupational and physical therapy programs. The landscape also includes a regulation-sized baseball field for use by Millbury’s high school team, supporting the school district’s broader athletics program.