Toms River, NJ   

In the third year of Steelcase Education’s Active Learning Center Grant, Toms River High School North was one of 15 recipients selected from over 950 applications, and the only school awarded in the Tri-State region. dancker helped remodel a classroom into an interactive, literary maker-space for sophomore and junior English classes.

Over the summer, members of the district’s facilities department worked to overhaul the classroom to get it ready for the installation of the furniture. The crews repainted the room, refurbished the floors, removed old desks, cabinets and blinds, and completed other necessary repairs and cleaning. The new classroom is inspired by Steelcase’s Verb classroom and boasts flexible seating arrangements, sit/stand options and rolling whiteboards, allowing students and teachers to sit in a more relaxed setting and collaborate on projects together. The new space replaced an outdated static classroom with traditional desks and the classic lecture style of teaching with a learner-active approach. With the right solutions in place, students are now more engaged, able to collaborate in groups or work individually, and can use other resources and tools that will supplement their traditional textbooks for an enhanced learning experience.