Take a Tour Through the South Loop's New British School

A few weeks ago, the South Loop campus of the British School of Chicago had its grand opening, and during the first week of classes we stopped by for a tour of the private PreK-12 school. The new school has three floors and space for about 1,100 students, plenty of room for expansion from the 460 students they had on the first day of classes this month. The school is outfitted for learning the modern way, with a full music production suite, a 3D design and manufacturing lab, a materials design lab, and computers galore. Mike Horton, the school's headmaster, says this is now the only school in Chicago with all age ranges under one roof. After starting in 2001 with four students and growing each year, the school built its large Lincoln Park campus in 2008 but was already bursting at the seams. When considering a design for a South Loop campus, everyone from teachers to parents to students were polled for what they wanted. One thing the school learned from building their Lincoln Park campus was that students craved "American style" lockers, in the hallways rather than inside of classrooms, to align with the image of school locker use portrayed in TV and movies.

Parents who tour the new campus tend to be amazed by the stylish design and technology everywhere, most often joking that they wished they could enroll themselves. The kids seem to be liking the new space as well. "One girl, after the first day of class," Headmaster Mike says, "told her parents that she had more fun here than at Six Flags!" Developed by McCaffery Interests and designed by Antunovich Associates, the new school broke ground in April 2014 and officially opened less than a month ago.

·British School Celebrates Opening of South Loop Campus [Curbed Chicago]
·Checking In On The British School's New South Loop Campus [Curbed Chicago]
·Previous British School South Loop coverage [Curbed Chicago]