School Description
Bradley is the first elementary school in Denver Public Schools to be authorized as an International Baccalaureate World School offering the IB Primary Years Programme for students Pre-K through fifth grade. The IB PYP is an international curriculum that focuses on the students’ social, physical, emotional, and cultural development in addition to academic growth. IB PYP schools have proven to promote critical thinkers, lifelong learners, and informed participants in local and global affairs. At the center of the IP PYP curriculum are five essential elements: knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes, and actions.
Bradley Elementary was named in honor of Charles Allen Bradley, a teacher at East High School in 1883, a vice principal at East in 1891, and principal of the Manual Training High School in 1893. He retired in June of 1928. Bradley Elementary School was one of twelve elementary schools within the Denver Public School system completed in 1952. The building houses twenty-nine classrooms, library, gymnasium, auditorium and cafeteria. It has a capacity of about 700 students. Bradley offers Early Childhood Education (ECE), Kindergarten, and first through fifth grade.
Learning Landscapes Description
The design reflects Bradley’s newly acquired International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme. The Learning Landscape features three age appropriate play areas, turf play area, crusher fine track, community gateway, and a shade structure built upon the focal point of the design, a five foot high mound. Two acres of the site will be completed during phase II of construction when the remaining antiquated play equipment and pea gravel will be replaced with community garden and sod area.
School Website
Bradley International School
Construction Date
May 2007
Landscape Architect
Davis Partnership
Play Equipment Vendor
Play World Systems
School Garden Sponsor
Denver Urban Gardens
Community Garden
Garden Design
Garden Photos
Volunteer Projects
On September 15, Bradley broke ground on its new vegetable garden thanks to a generous donation from Origins. Click on the list below to view photos from this event.
Ceremony
Tree Planting
Riparian Planting
Master Plan
Vision
Imagine a place where the community gathers and the children learn. A place where support is overwhelming and learning engaging. Charles A Bradley believed in education and in his community. Bradley Elementary can follow his lead and achieve what he strived forthroughout his career. Bradley’s Learning Landscape will be an identifiable place which encourages pride, involvement and self discovery within the community.
Goals
This vision articulates the 3 main goals of Bradley Elementary School’s master plan. The master plan will achieve success upon completion of these goals.
- Enhance the academic, physical, and social learning environment through interactive, hands-on learning.
- Utilize the playground to bolster the community activities, support, and involvement.
- Create a sense of pride in the school through beautification and facilities improvements.
Illustrative Drawing
Master Plan
Presentation Boards
Collage
Design Development
Description
The Bradley Elementary design development drawings were produced in the Fall of 2002 by landscape architecture students at the University of Colorado Denver. The goal of the design is to provide a safe and nurturing environment for Bradley International Elementary School that promotes the physical, social, emotional , and cognitive development of children while inspiring pride and ownership in the students and the community of University Hills.
The aesthetic ordering system is based on the theme of the school which is “International”. A progression can be made from “international” to “global” and than to “globe”.As an example, “global” can take the form of a circle, an arc, a sphere, or a hemisphere. As an aesthetic ordering system there is the potential to use the forms as a tool for unifying and articulating the ultimate design. Retaining the “international” concept is an opportunity to create spaces that reference different cultures and continents.
Illustrative Drawing
Design Development Drawings
Presentation Boards
Construction Documentation
Description from Architect
Davis Partnership was contracted in Spring of 2006 to see through with the master planning and construction documentation of the Denver Public Schools (DPS) Learning Landscapes aspects of this 1943 school located in the University Hills neighborhood of Denver. The 7-acre site was a vast sea of pea gravel, asphalt and discarded plumbing steel play equipment and in desperate need of a face-lift. In addition to its daily use by the Elementary school, the site is also highly used by the community, and as such the make over was greatly anticipated.
Davis Partnership reviewed the site with multiple stakeholders including neighborhood associations, the school patrons, and DPS project managers to establish a master plan before proceeding to documenting the design intent. The primary needs established were: a turf playing field and surrounding crusher fines track, three age-appropriate play equipment areas, an entrance gateway, a shade structure, a new irrigation system, and the appropriate trees plants and gardens needed to soften the spaces near the playgrounds. A design was settled upon that reflected the schools newly acquired International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme. The design includes a 5-foot-high mound and a sweeping ramp centered in the site. An elegant case of stairs bend around the mound providing the dual purpose of a seating area as well as direct access to the shade structure on top. On the back side of the mound a gentle slope provides an elevated place to lounge in the grass and observe activity on the adjacent playing fields. Davis Partnership developed a layout for the early childhood education program that included two separate play pits for swings and climbing equipment encircled by a figure-8 walkway. The walk acts as a thickened edge to contain the fibrous cushion material and simultaneously provide a tricycle race track that is easily monitored from a central location. There remains approximately 2 acres of unfinished area on the site. It is expected that DPS will come back at a later date to finish out installing sod, a community garden and removing the antiquated play equipment and remaining pea gravel.
Illustrative Plan
Construction Drawings
Play Equipment
Shade Structure