Ceremonial groundbreaking held to celebrate the construction of a new Mitchell Elementary

Students, educators, district trustees and guests gathered Friday, April 11, for a ceremonial groundbreaking to celebrate the start of construction on the new Mitchell Elementary School. The event marked a significant milestone in the district’s ongoing efforts to modernize educational facilities throughout the community.

The new Mitchell school will be built adjacent to the current school at 3550 Pittsview Drive. The work is part of the larger Ann Arbor Public Schools 2019 Bond initiative approved by voters to update facilities across the district.

Ann Arbor Public Schools contractors are preparing to construct the new school over the next two years. The new school will have significantly improved mechanical heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems with a new ground source geothermal system, rooftop solar PV, assisting the district to provide a healthy environment to the students, meet its green building energy efficiency targets and commitments to environmental sustainability, and reduce operating costs.

According to Moe Nagpal, AAPS’ manager of construction projects, the following are some additional key features of the building and construction methods:

• The building has been designed to meet the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) designation of Verified Leader. CHPS has established criteria based on evidence and best practices that form the foundation of every healthy, high-performance school. The criteria are structured around three priority outcomes:
  • Maximize the health, well-being, and performance of students, educators, and staff.
  • Conserve energy, water, and other resources to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and reduce operating costs.
  • Practice good environmental stewardship within schools to achieve community, social, and environmental goals.
• The design incorporates multiple biophilic features, including: Nature in the Space (physically experiencing nature), Nature of the Space (spatial configurations), and Natural Analogues (nature-inspired elements).
• Provides at least two interior or exterior features that create safe and calming spaces, provide sensory input, or contribute to a sense of community.
• Low-carbon structural and other major materials were selected through an assessment of embodied carbon using a whole-building life-cycle assessment (WBLCA) calculator. Low-carbon materials will be used in many of the following categories: – Concrete – Steel – Timber – Metal framing – Glazing – Insulation – Interior materials: Gypsum board, wall & ceiling panels, carpet, flooring.
• No CFC-based refrigerants will be used in building heating, ventilating, air conditioning, & refrigeration (HVAC&R) systems.
• The building meets the criteria for zero net energy and is designed to have 75 percent of the floor area within a daylit zone.
• The campus will have at least one school garden supporting the new Mitchell ES.
• More than 100 trees and shrubs will be planted around the campus as part of the landscaping plan.
• A permanent educational display will be created in a central location on the school site that describes key high-performance features such as enhanced indoor environmental quality, energy, water, site, materials & waste, or climate resilience that are part of the building and site.

Click here to learn more about the Mitchell Elementary major construction project.

Mitchell Elementary, originally constructed in 1951, is a one-story structure with exterior brick veneer situated in southeast Ann Arbor adjacent to Scarlett Middle School. The original structure has experienced at least six additions over the years, and currently supports grades Preschool-Grade 5.