Big Horn County School District

Laura Irwin Elementary & Riverside Middle/High School | Basin, WY

West Plains Engineering provided mechanical and electrical engineering on two new schools for the Big Horn County School District in Basin, WY – a 31,000 square foot elementary school and a 61,000 square foot middle and high school.

Laura Irwin Elementary serves students in Kindergarten through grade five and was constructed on a site west of the existing elementary school and high school campus in Basin. The new school includes eleven regular education teaching classrooms to accommodate average class sizes of 15-20 students; one mild/moderate needs special education classroom; one severe needs special education classroom (self-contained); four offices (principal, speech pathologist, nurse, occupational therapy/physical therapy); two or three small conference rooms for individual or small group pull-out; and media center. The District also requested an enhancement to upgrade the elementary multipurpose room to a gymnasium that accommodates a high school basketball court and bleachers.

Riverside Middle & High School serves students in grades six through 12 and was constructed on a site west of the existing elementary and high school campus. The new school consists of instructional space that encourages a collaborative learning environment, including nine standard classrooms (three language arts, two history, two mathematics, one business, and one Spanish); four specialized classrooms (two science classrooms with laboratory space, one music room, and one art room); gymnasium with two full-size courts; four offices (principal, activities director, instructional facilitator, technology director); and teacher workroom. The District wanted to maintain the flexibility of use for the commons area so the multipurpose area includes dining, concessions, stage area for performing arts, cross-curricular learning opportunities, and community gatherings. The media center has the capacity for 50-60 people to accommodate Board meetings and District professional development meetings. Vocational programs are an important priority for the District, and this facility includes dedicated space for welding, woodworking, technology, agriculture (greenhouse and science lab) and CAD.