I met VMDO's Wyck and Brittany at Cougar Elementary in Manassas Park. By pointing out similarities and differences between Cougar Elementary and ES#1 (can't wait until we have a name), I got a better feel for what it might be like to be in our finished school. Cougar is a very cool school! It's one thing to read about Tubular Daylighting Devices and quite another to stand in an interior classroom completely lit by natural daylight. I received a crash course in reading design documents and we discussed signage, colors, and themes as part of the wayfinding process. Don't know what that means? I don't have an exact definition, but what it means to us, is that architecture, colors, and signage are all themed so that people can easily navigate and make sense of the building. I really appreciate their child-centered thinking. It was a great first day! In fact, it was so exciting, that we forgot to eat. I didn't exactly forget, but I didn't want to stop. We side tracked off into discussions of paperless schools and lunchroom recycling (two passions of mine) and before I knew it the day was over!
I couldn't resist..I had to take some first day pictures!
