Bartram Trail High School - St. Johns County

Bartram Trail High School’s 9th Grade Center is a stand-alone campus facility designed to provide freshmen an easy transition into high school. Opened in the fall of 2007, the state-of-the-art 65,000 square-foot facility includes a cafeteria and media center. It replaces the 9th Grade Center’s original portable structures, in which the center had been operating since 2004.

Because the A-ranked school’s demographic is primarily college-bound, planning and equipping the media center to meet a variety of needs was essential. Contrax Furnishings worked with the 9th Grade Center’s administrative staff to plan space, select and purchase furnishings and fixtures to accommodate specific uses – as well as correct issues created by other parties when the space was finished.

The layout of the 2648 square-foot media center presented its own initial challenge. As one long room, it lacked spatial definition. The administrative staff and Contrax Furnishings representative studied the space and planned three primary areas: group work space; a "lab" area for individual research and learning to utilize laptop computers; and a leisure zone with upholstered chairs for casual study and laptop work.

The solution: space for the group work area is defined by tall book shelving and a mix of tall and medium-height tables with four chairs each. Two short book shelves divide the laptop lab from the leisure zone. Two mobile book shelves are situated in the media center’s front window to serve as display space.

Built by the school’s contractor, the circulation desk was not designed with the full range of function in mind. The Contrax Furnishings representative evaluated the desk and recommended it be reconfigured with a section having a lower level so that students can interact more easily with the media specialist and assistants. Holes were also drilled in its back panels for computer cables and phone wires.

Furniture and interior aesthetics were given as high a level of importance as spatial function. The Contrax Furnishings representative provided advice on color choice and coordination, as well as helped to facilitate a distinctive touch: a laser cutout of a bear claw in the back of the media center chairs in honor of the school’s athletic teams, the Bartram Bears. When planning for the addition of a game table, the representative took care to ensure its wood tone complemented the shade of the media center’s carpeting.

"We wanted the look and feel of the media center to be very much like a Barnes & Noble," said the 9th Grade Center’s media specialist. "It was important that the media center be inviting to students so they would want to spend time here. And it’s been working. Not only that, the students have taken pride in this space. After a year, the furniture is still in good condition. Students respect it. There’s no carving on the wood pieces, or even gum under the tables."

Achieving the ideal balance of function and aesthetics was central to creating a media center that brings out the best in students at every level. The media specialist noted that the Contrax Furnishings representative used his knowledge of how educational spaces need to function to make the center a success.

"It’s important that you have an experienced person working for you who understands what you do and what the facility is being used for. Our Contrax Furnishings representative has worked with so many different schools, he was able to show examples and helped us see what would work. Just recently, an older student said the freshmen didn’t deserve such a nice space. He wished this media center had been here when he was a freshman."