A ‘home-away-from-home experience’: How this new school is wowing kids in Fort Worth
In January, Fort Worth Country Day unveiled its Annie Richardson Bass Lower School, a nature-infused learning center for first- through fourth-grade students. But it’s more than a collection of shiny new classrooms for the private school at 4200 Country Day Lane; the building is a $25 million research-based investment in student achievement and well-being.
Ground broke on the project in January 2024 after several years of discussion around what to do with the original lower school building, which was constructed in 1964. While perfectly functional, that aging structure — with its low-slung, windowless classrooms — reflected a different era.
In contrast, each of the new school’s 16 classrooms has a vaulted ceiling and windows offering panoramic views of the wooded campus. Architects from Lake Flato, the firm that designed the building, took it a step further and used computer simulations to determine the best placement for skylights in each room to accentuate the daylight infusion. Indeed, even on an overcast day, it’s possible to have class without ever reaching for the light switch.
Apart from it being more aesthetically pleasing, numerous studies over the decades have shown that students perform better in natural light than under artificial light alone. The benefits include improved mood and an increase in mental alertness and brain activity. That’s why that component of the design was a “non-negotiable,” according to Trey Blair, the head of lower school at Fort Worth Country Day.
One big reason Lake Flato was selected to spearhead the project is because of the firm’s philosophy of bringing the outdoors indoors.
“The building spirals around this courtyard, with a ‘storybook’ tree at the center of it,” said Jamie Sartory, one of the project’s architects. “This allows students to navigate around this central space. As you grow through the building, going from one grade to another, you move from the north to the southwest, so you have the opportunity to see the courtyard from different vantage points.”
The tree Sartory mentioned is “Chuck,” a 25-foot Chinaquapin Oak surrounded by a flagstone patio that’s meant to serve as a gathering place for generations of Country Day students to come. Follow a path to the back of the school’s north wing, and you’ll find another patio perched atop a hill overlooking a stone riverbed. This is where students recently celebrated Valentine’s Day, and where they’ll engage in science experiments and other activities not confined to a classroom.
For the building itself, Lake Flato used natural materials, like dark wood that blends with the surrounding trees, to “give students and staff a home-away-from-home experience,” said Sartory. Instead of old-fashioned aluminum or steel gutters, there are chains running from roof to ground at the building’s corners, which rainwater runs down instead of splattering the landscaping, which was designed by Dallas-based Hocker.
“Biophilia is a scientific term, and it’s about humans’ biological need to be connected to nature,” Sartory said. “It has an impact on health and wellness. Studies show it lowers incidences of tension, anxiety and fatigue, and there are a lot of benefits like higher test scores and a reduced perception of stress. We wove biophilia throughout the design.”
What you won’t find anywhere at the lower school are rows of desks uniformly oriented toward a white board and a teacher’s stern gaze. A glimpse into any classroom reveals students working together in groups, some in circles on the floor, taking an active role in their own learning. This, said Blair, was another reason for constructing the new building, which offers the ability to be more creative with classroom layouts. Blair said that goes hand in hand with the innovative new curriculum the school has adopted.
In addition to the classrooms, there are individualized learning spaces, a technology lab, and a 2,002-square-foot library that was designed with acoustics in mind, offering a quiet, peaceful oasis. Its centerpiece is a fireplace in front of which Country Day’s librarian treats kids to story time. The library’s back wall, which opens out to the courtyard, is almost entirely glass, and on nice days the doors will be opened to allow the children to get some fresh air and relax in Chuck’s shade with a good book.
Interestingly, the new building doesn’t allow for increased enrollment. Total enrollment at Country Day is 1,116. There are approximately 420 students in the lower school, and that’s the maximum. But the hope is the new building will spur an increase in applications, which will help Country Day remain a thriving, vibrant school community into the future.
This is just phase one of a multi-phase master plan to renovate, renew and replace several of the buildings on Country Day’s campus, including the upper school and the performing arts center. But there’s no rush to do that yet. Right now, everyone is enjoying this latest addition. That goes double for the students themselves.
On a wall in the north wing, near the first grade classrooms, students have posted drawings with their initial impressions of their new school. The artwork is endearing, and the captions, written with studied care and impressive penmanship, offer a glimpse into the minds of the children for whom this campus was created. Some drew pictures of the library. One drew a wonderful representation of Chuck. Others sketched the science classroom with its aquariums housing lizards, tarantulas and a bright green tree frog. All seemed to appreciate their new building, even if they don’t yet fully understand the impact it’s meant to have on their lives.
This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 11:59 AM.