Endeavour Elementary School

North Hanover Township School District’s new Endeavour Elementary School is located on Joint Base MDL, educating 850 Pre-K though fourth grade students of military families who live and serve on Base. The 14-acre site is in the N.J. Pinelands Management Area.

With construction underway, the Landscape Architect was engaged to provide design and construction services for three courtyards, a roof-top classroom, two playgrounds, fencing, and an overall landscape plan, including slope stabilization and pollinator meadows.

With the architecture designed but unconstructed, major challenges included designing, documenting, sourcing, and constructing the interior courtyards prior to closing the building envelope. The project was documented and bid in phases to coordinate access with the building’s zoned construction schedule.

The design intent was to create a fun, educational, safe, and low-maintenance landscape, with an aesthetic reflecting and blending with the Pinelands environment through natural materials and colors to complement the facades. Three internal courtyards integrate stone boulders, wood seating, log benches, gravel stream beds, and soft woodland plants that blur the edges, extending and enhancing the function of interior classroom spaces. The large and small learning courtyards and rooftop science classroom incorporate multiple sizes and types of spaces for learning, exploration, creativity, and contemplation.

A sense of place is fostered from the micro-scale to the macro, with built-in educational opportunities. From tiny Pinelands animal tracks and leaf prints etched into pavers, to a painted map of the United States, children can learn where they are and understand the world around them. These tools are especially important for children of military personnel to explore and share where they have lived as their parents are deployed to various bases. Educational offerings include geometric synthetic lawn panels, etched and painted pavers for individual and cooperative play, and adventurous water cycle study through a system of down-spouts, rain chain, stream beds and boardwalks. The shape of the shade sail evokes the school’s namesake, Space Shuttle Endeavour, offering relief from the sun and a link to the study of space. The rooftop science classroom includes a pergola-covered seating area with retractable canopy, and a lawn panel for larger group activities. Raised planters, a potting bench and compost bin let students get dirty and explore where food comes from.

The exterior landscaping utilizes native Pinelands plant species, and the playgrounds provide universal access and spaces for children with motor and sensory processing issues.

These outdoor classrooms offer healthy, flexible, attractive, and engaging settings that facilitate a learning continuum for children of service members.