Feasibility Study
JCJ Architecture was engaged by the Southwick Tolland Regional School District to undertake a feasibility study regarding Woodland Elementary School. The study grew to consider the needs and potential of all three of the District’s facilities – Woodland ES, Powder Mill MS and Southwick Tolland High School. JCJ reviewed the District’s grant potential and operational pro forma as the District undertook discussions as to the potential of increasing the Regional District to include the Town of Granville. The feasibility study confirmed the most educationally sound and cost effective way to address existing issues would be to expand regional school district, undertake grade reconfiguration and to develop schemes for appropriate facility improvements. JCJ assisted the District with funding approvals at the state and local level for renovation of the existing Woodland Elementary School to a PreK-2, renovation of Powder Mill to become an Intermediate School to serve Grades 3-6 and renovation/expansion the existing High School to serve as a combined Middle School/High School, serving Grades 7-12.
Southwick Regional School
This project involved the conversion and expansion of the existing 9-12 high school to accommodate 7th and 8th graders. The overall scheme called for the renovation of core spaces in existing building–gymnasium, auditorium, cafeteria and library–with the addition of two “C”-shaped wings on either side. To addition to the north created a new main entry, an updated front elevation for the school and a new science and classroom wing specifically for Middle School teams. This configuration provided the Middle School students with their own zone within the larger building where they were able to transition smoothly to the new building with managed interaction with the older students. The south addition provides new science labs and classroom facilities for the High School students. Centrally located core spaces provide clear “shared space” operations between both the 7th and 8th graders and high school students. This shared operational configuration helped the District realize a greater functional efficiency within the building and has saved significant operational costs over the first few years that the new facility has been open. This project is currently tracking to meet LEED certification goals.

Middle / High School
790 students/Grades 7-12
100,371 SF (renovation)
65,104 SF (new)
$31.4 Million (construction)
Completion: 2015


Powder Mill School and Woodland School
As part of the grade reconfiguration, the existing Powder Mill Middle School was converted to a Grade 3-6 school and Woodland Elementary was configured to a PreK-3 school. The changes to Woodland gave the District the opportunity to expand its PK program. The renovations to the both schools included overall Code Updates and full renovations to the existing classrooms, SPED, and administrative spaces. Renovations to the existing main entry included upgraded security measures and provided appropriate space for parent volunteers and visitors to enter the building. At Powder Mill, the west-facing wall was replaced with a new curtain wall system designed to better handle the heat gain and to provide a fresh, new, modern look to the most prominent face of the building. The buildings were brought up to current accessibility codes.
Powder Mill School
545 students/Grades 3-6
95,775 SF (renovation)
$14.7 Million (construction)
Woodland School
400 students/Grades PreK-2
67,709 SF (renovation)
$7.4 Million (construction)
$10 Million (total project)

Results
The resultant MSBA grants allowed the District to address three buildings, when the original plan was to address one, and increases the grant amounts received by the District by an estimated $21 Million over the projected cost of addressing the buildings as originally planned.