The district had two separate schools that served their small, rural student population. Both campuses needed extensive updates and lacked 21st century spaces. The new, smaller single campus school serves the district within a tighter footprint with increased 21st century program space.

With an already thriving program, the planning of this facility and its location needed to be tightly knit into other district programs, such as athletics and general education. A key consideration was also the ability to expand program offerings in the future, through enlarged facilities and features which could include on-site gardens, crops or additional livestock support.

A new Elementary School has been built to replace the outdated, non-functional, and rigid elementary spaces previously housed at Lincoln (3-5) and Washington (PK-2). The unified PK-5 facility implements best-practice education design in an approximately 65,000 s.f. building, creating 15%-20% square footage efficiencies for the district.

The new 81,500 s.f. Ellsworth Dansby Jr. Magnet School will house K8 students with environments that revolve around student-focused learning. Flexible and collaborative work spaces will be incorporated to engage students to work in small groups. 

This transformational educational environment is designed to support diverse students in learning through future-focused methods. Intentional features like operable walls and flexible seating facilitate easy collaboration and project-based learning. Additionally, bilingual teams and faculty can share students without leaving the classroom area, promoting seamless support.

Through the BOLD Facilities Plan, Decatur Public Schools is working to ensure student-focused learning environments with spaces that expand learning beyond traditional expectations to further engage students. To help accomplish this goal, a reimagined, new facility replaced an outdated structure which was located on the highest elevation point in Decatur, Johns Hill.