Portage Public Schools North Middle School

The community of Portage, Michigan came together in 2015 to pass a district-wide bond program, intending to create 21st-century learning centers while making thoughtful use of community resources. As part of this program, the New North Middle School (MS) was proposed to establish strong, sustainable relationships between its students, staff, parents, the curriculum, and surrounding neighborhood.

Stantec was selected to execute the program’s vision of designing for the future. We designed New North MS for discovery and the belief that learning happens everywhere—this three-story space encourages students to connect across grade levels and with faculty from different backgrounds. Each grade level is housed in a secure learning neighborhood, where classrooms and support spaces surround a hyper-flexible learning commons that promotes a variety of teaching and learning methods. Understanding that each student learns differently, we designed spaces that allow for independent study, small group, large group, project-based, and lecture-based learning styles.

By leveraging flexibility in its layout, the new North Middle School nurtures and empowers a diverse group of students for future success.