Bethel School District Danebo Elementary School Gym and Classroom Addition

Utilizing remaining funds from their 2020 Bond, Bethel School District is adding classrooms and a gym to Danebo Elementary School to accommodate an increase in students. Built in 1965, the school was designed as a series of pods connected by outdoor covered walkways. The Addition will connect to the existing school through one of these pods, with a newly renovated hallway and covered walkway, and will include a new, full-sized gym and classroom pod.

The new gym will provide ample space for P.E. and large assemblies, while also serving as a community asset. The Bethel area has a shortage of community gyms. To easily accommodate after-hour use, the gym is purposefully sited to the south of the existing school, close to parking. It will have its own separate public entrance and restrooms. The gym will adjoin a secure wing of six new classrooms. The old, undersized gym, at the center of the school, will be repurposed into a flexible, multipurpose space.

The new gym and classroom addition continues the rhythm of the school with a new building wing to the south, while retaining a large contiguous site that allows flexibility for the future. The site still provides ample area for sports fields, and, if needed, a future school could be designed and built around the new Addition without impacting existing school operations.