The ultimate goal of Our Saviour School is developing the whole child and encouraging them to lead and serve. The Jacksonville, Ill.-based school teaches Roman Catholic values in a faith-centered environment that promotes spiritual, intellectual, and physical growth for its students.
Our Saviour partnered with Graham & Hyde to ensure its student body receives a well-rounded education with intentional spaces optimal for learning.
Master planning for the parish facilities began in 2015 with a goal of improving the “hospitality” of the campus and adding spaces for new curriculum offerings and a new Pre-K program. Additionally, the school’s building committee sought to address numerous accessibility issues.
The Parish’s overwhelming support for the Dominican Sisters’ legacy surprised even the most optimistic of volunteers by raising slightly more than $3.3M for the $2.8M addition and renovation project.
The project renovated the existing three-story school built in 1936, adding a three-stop elevator and creating an identifiable building entry and new lobby and ramp to the gymnasium. The 10,000 square foot school addition now houses the primary grades along with a new secure office suite, choir room, and 60-student band room.
The school’s vibrant kelly green color is splashed throughout the spaces — from the furniture to wall paint and ceiling features. Evidence of the school’s mascot, shamrocks, can be found in decor features as well.
Dedicated collaboration spaces, tables and resources in the new media center allow for small groups to use technology for projects. Our Saviour also wanted to find space for the schools art and science programs, in order to enrich and connect both curricula.
Graham & Hyde carved space from the existing stage and locker room to form the DaVinci maker space, where operable lab stations raise and lower to allow students ages 5-14 to use the labs comfortably. The connection between the two spaces enable either class to spread out to create, present, and display their work.
With its new addition and renovations, Our Saviour School now has a unique educational setting to nurture the intellectual, moral, and spiritual growth of students as children of God.