SCPS Lawton Elementary School Marks 115 Years of Nurturing Young Minds: Campus Improvements Unveiled
Recently, there was a groundbreaking ceremony at T.W. Lawton Elementary School. The Elementary School has come quite a long way since 1876. The same year our nation celebrated its first 100 years, Lawton Elementary was founded as a one-room schoolhouse serving only three families around Oviedo, Florida. Since then, the school has grown to entail two stories of educational space - well beyond its humble beginnings. But more is yet to come, and we at Matern Professional Engineering are working at the school as Lawton approaches its sesquicentennial and achieves its next steps as a 21st-century educational center.
Along with our partner CPPI, who is serving as the general contractor, we are working to provide the Oviedo community a school they can simultaneously be proud of but that also respects its long history—and evolution—here in the northeastern suburbs of Orlando. Our work at Lawton Elementary will encompass the construction of a brand-new, 31,500-square-foot two-story addition, as well as the buildout of an air-chilled water central energy plant. Exciting aspects of the new ground floor include a modern kitchen facility and a multipurpose room that features a stage for various gatherings. The second floor will consist of nine modern classrooms where Lawton’s kids will learn in a supportive environment amongst the latest technology.
Together with our partners, we will also update portions of several of the campus’s existing buildings—including demolishing buildings 4, 5, 6, and 11 and renovations to buildings 1, 2, and 7. Newer architectural features for buildings 1, 2, and 7 will include face brick over masonry and a low-sloped roof. Our team is also envisioning a new method of vehicular approach from Lake Jessup Avenue with a new road extension. The school’s parking lots and service drives will also be updated to allow for easier ingress and egress for vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians.
Personnel from Matern Professional Engineering, Schenkel & Shultz, CPPI, and Seminole County Public Schools personnel recently attended a groundbreaking ceremony held at Lawton Elementary School for the school’s new Intermediate Learning Center. Mayor Megan Sladek was on hand to deliver remarks, as was Seminole County Public Schools Superintendent Serita Beamon, as well as personnel from the City of Oviedo. This was a commemorative occasion also attended by Lawton faculty, staff, alumni, and current students. Two of the current students are the fifth generation in their families to be educated at Lawton!
With our partners, we are renovating and expanding T.W. Lawton Elementary School so that current students’ children and grandchildren can continue to count on a high standard of education that generations prior have enjoyed here. We are proud to be part of such an important project.