4.12.11 | This month Museum magazine features an article about Lee Skolnick's new K-5 elementary school in Casper, Wyo., which adopts museum design concepts to make teaching and learning more effective.

“Not only does the design enhance the quality of how students and teachers interact, but it fosters the potential for learning opportunities between and around classroom spaces.”
— Summit Elementary’s principal, Anne LaPlante.

It's an unusual story about an innovative new school. It offers valuable lessons on how "informal learning experiences" and thematic narrative -- two staples of modern museum design -- can be used to enhance learning at all ages.

“Favoring good design over what was assumed to work in the past, we created a space far more usable than traditional alternatives.”
— Kelly Eastes, Natrona County School District Spokesman

The school, Summit Elementary, is being hailed as a model statewide and nationally. Principal Dr. Anne LaPlante is a vocal proponent for the results. The school district's spokesman, Kelly Eastes, met the architects at a national conference of the American Association of Museums in search of ideas, and later engaged Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership as the design architect.

An image of the school's open plan, and a shot of a community charrette session, are attached.