Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, Crane Country Day School in Montecito has opened the doors on a new kindergarten facility that has raised the bar for the future of education.

Built in just 11 weeks, the new kindergarten is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and stays true to Crane’s commitment to sustainability.

Situated on a grassy knoll and fitted with a wraparound porch and vegetable garden, Crane’s kindergarten aesthetics pay homage to the old-fashioned schoolhouses of the early 20th century. The design aims to provide children with a homey atmosphere in which to feel more comfortable during their transition into the educational system.

“Kindergarten is one of the bookends. We start at kindergarten as the entry point of our schools,” said Joel Weiss, headmaster of Crane Country Day School. “We have a unique thing at the kindergarten age by having 20 kids with two full-time teachers. The two-teacher model is a luxury because there is a lot of different ways to teach, and this was a part of the project. Before they were teaching in a small cottage.”

With two classrooms connected by a foyer, the idea of utilizing a secondary teaching space in the new kindergarten facility was conceived through the kindergarten’s unique co-teaching model. With two instructors teaming up to work with about 20 children, the model allows for more individual and one-on-one instruction.

“I think the whole idea for the project sprang from the co-teaching model, and the space we were in wasn’t very big,” said kindergarten co-teacher Megan MacMurray, who is also a graduate of Crane. “It was one small room, and it was hard for us to do individual instruction. We will have one large area with a carpet and desks, and then a separate pull-out room, and we can have can separate instruction.”

Perhaps the most innovative and flashy addition to the classroom is a smart board. Picture one big iPad mounted on the wall. The smart board is a multifunctional, interactive whiteboard that uses touch detection.

“The smart board is so interactive and the children are at a good age to use it,” MacMurray said. “They are so savvy as young as they are.”

While the kindergarten at Crane is pioneering modern education, the construction project for the building was also an impressive anomaly. Think of it as Extreme Makeover: Kindergarten Edition. Crane demolished and rebuilt the kindergarten facility in just 11 weeks, the length of the school’s summer recess.

With Weiss and Dale Dunlap, Crane’s business manager, at the helm, the school defied conventional engineering wisdom.

“Schools are unique in that they have summer off, and the day after graduation the bulldozers came in and leveled the old building,” Weiss said. “It was quite a large project. Basically we were building a house in 11 weeks. It was an aggressive sprint of a project. It’s almost like we dared them to build it in 11 weeks.”

To complete such a large project in such a small window of time, Weiss and Dunlap worked multilaterally with contractors to initiate a design plan that would synthesize a construction project that traditionally takes up to year to build. Project framers built the walls on another part of campus. Weiss and Dunlop said the kindergarten went from a stone slab to a building in one day.

“The project was about efficiencies of scale for us,” Dunlap said. “And it was fun for the subcontractors to work in a team setting. It was not uncommon to have 25 or 30 guys working on a project concurrently. Usually on big projects you work one at a time, but we had all the subs working concurrently.”

The building qualifies for LEED certification, the highest recognition for sustainable facilities. With solar panels and open skylights providing natural light inside, Dunlap calls the new kindergarten a very well thought-out building.

“Every choice along the way was meant to be sustainable,” she said. “From using bulletin board material made out of cork instead of plastic to having all the electrical fixtures hitting way below the standard. We tried to make the whole building have air passage and full of light so turning on lights is unnecessary.”

In addition, the facility’s roof has been designed to collect water runoff. The rain is collected into a bucket and pump system that the kindergartners can use for gardening or in the sandbox.

The new kindergarten and the sustainability of the new building have been well received by the Crane School community, including students, parents and faculty.

“We are teaching the kids that we can reuse water,” MacMurray said. “I think it’s great how we have really optimized the space.”

Admission tours begin Oct. 10. To schedule an appointment, call admissions associate Julia Davis at 805.695.0536 x127. The kindergarten classroom will also be open for tours from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30 at the Crane Country Fair.

— Noozhawk intern Tim Fucci can be reached at news@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk or @NoozhawkNews. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.