A Permanent Home

ROOM FOR GROWTH

Since its inception, The Otto Specht School has seen sustained growth, adding students and further developing our programming. While our work has always reached beyond the four walls of the classroom, providing educational experiences imbued with meaning, engaging all of the senses, and meeting a multitude of learning styles, it was never intended to burst out of these walls due to limited space. Our classrooms are temporary, rented spaces within the Threefold and Fellowship Communities that were not designed for therapeutic use. Many are small or acoustically challenging. We have painted, creatively placed desks, removed cabinets, and strategically hung artwork, but parents are still calling, desperately searching for a school that will offer their children a meaningful education, and we are running out of room to grow. 

Nature and design

The Otto Specht School is fortunate to have been gifted an incredible building design by Charles Rose of Charles Rose Architects, LLC (https://www.charlesrosearchitects.com) and a beautiful location on which to build it on the Threefold campus. The building's two wings embrace the landscape and invite the beauty of the surrounding region into the building, while simultaneously bringing the inside "out" through frequent opportunities for engagement with the outdoors. A central lobby connects the two wings on the first and second levels, welcoming students, parents, and visitors to a light-filled community space at the heart of the building.

The building will be located at the junction of a natural landscape, a biodynamic farm, and our therapeutic herb garden. The buildings' forms are attenuated, stretching voluminously over the landscape, as though they were pulled and twisted into being - infusing the environment with kinetic energy. The interrelationship of light and landscape, interior and exterior, are integral to the project's design. Designed to achieve zero net energy standards and LEED Platinum certification, this buildings thoughtful and artful design has already gained recognition, receiving the prestigious Society of American Registered Architects/NY Design Excellence Award. 

To learn more or get involved in our capital campaign, contact:

Tony Cirone, Capital Campaign Director at tcirone@ottospecht.org

or Jeanette Rodriguez, Otto Specht School Director at j.rodriguez@ottospecht.org

A Design For our needs

This building features two wings, with classrooms, a kitchen, work spaces, therapy rooms, and space that brings students together, building upon the community aspect so important to the character and function of the school. The classrooms are designed for individualized learning and small teacher-to-student ratios. Younger grades’ classrooms are designed to feel more protected, while upper grades’ classrooms connect to the outside world, looking outward with sweeping views of the community.

Curving corridors allow for graceful circulation and serve to connect the student with the community space for gardens and play areas.