Lake Forest Country Day School

Lake Forest Country Day School is reimagining its existing PreK-8 campus — 57,000 square feet on a 30-acre site, serving 450 students — as a more flexible, future-ready learning environment. Education Design International led the educational visioning and concept design, aligning the campus with the school’s mission of curiosity, innovation, wellness, and hands-on, learner-centered education.

Rather than building anew, the plan adapts existing facilities into a more dynamic and interconnected ecosystem. Major moves include a reimagined Early Years Learning Community, a new practice gymnasium and welcoming west entry, expanded music and arts facilities, a transformed cafeteria commons, upgraded drama and performing-arts environments, and a basement makerspace woodshop — organized as Learning Communities that support project-based, interdisciplinary, performance-based, and movement-based learning, with student agency and visible learning throughout.

The redesigned Early Years Learning Community draws on Reggio-inspired, play-based models — natural light, indoor-outdoor connections, exploration zones, and child-scaled environments for self-directed discovery. Shared spaces like the cafeteria, gymnasium, and performing-arts environments become community hubs with flexible furnishings, outdoor dining, gathering stairs, and visible student work, establishing a future-focused vision where adaptive reuse and engaging design create a more connected, student-centered school.