Tuesday night, the Ross Valley School District board viewed a 3D model of the new White Hill Middle School design plan from WRNS Studio architects. The 3D model is a new architecture system that allows multiple levels of design, engineering, and geography to be built in to plans.

You can see the video of the school design above, which shows the entrance to the campus, the interior courtyard, and the new 7th and 8th grade buildings.

Construction on the new 7th and 8th grade buildings will begin this summer and is expected to take 14 months to be completed in August 2013. Over the summer portables will be put in to be used during the 2012-13 school year and work will be completed on retrofitting the two art rooms and converting some existing space in the Wildcat Room to classrooms.

The campus will be crowded during the year while construction is completed, Bond Manager George Baranoff acknowledged.

The 3D video was met with ooohs and ahhs by the board members, staff, and community present.

Main features include flexible classroom space in the new 7th and 8th grade buildings. On the second floor, there will be a flex wall that allows three classrooms to open up into a flex space or close off to create separate learning environments. On the first floor, there are also partitions separating the two classes.

Additionally, energy efficiency has been incorporated into the project and landscaping that will help deter rain run-off.

Lockers have been built into the low walls, allowing students to store their stuff and creating patio learning areas. The board, teachers, and parents have also been working on ways to incorporate technology into the new building, which will be fully wireless and have also wired access throughout classrooms. Small touches like science lab tables that clip into the sink counter make the new buildings state-of-the-art.

The total budget for the work at White Hill is $21.3 million. There is some additional work that the district hopes to do in Building 100 that houses the Wildcat Room, but that work would cost an additional $1 million and so will be held for the last phase depending on what the budget allows.

There is also a separate budget allocated for furnishings and materials inside the buildings.

Wednesday morning also saw some construction finally getting underway with the installation of the modular building at Manor School. The modular was brought in with a giant crane around 9 a.m. and by the end of the school day was nearing completion of installation.

The modular, one of three new classrooms approved at Manor, was approved early because of increased enrollment this year at the school.

What do you think of the new buildings?