Designing a School Entrance That Balances Safety, Visibility and Community

Albright Middle School's new entry vestibule is a direct reflection of Salt Creek School District 48's values, culture and vision for its students.

The renovated space, designed in close collaboration with district leadership, offers a friendly, secure front entrance for the school and reinforces the sense of belonging that defines the community. Filled with natural light, clear visibility and warm materials, the vestibule balances safety with openness to create an environment that feels inspiring and approachable for students, staff and families.

Watch the video:

FGMA worked with District 48 throughout the design process to ensure the space reflects what matters most to the community. The feature wall includes character strengths from positive psychology. The highly visible view into the entry and the entire experience of walking in from the street stemmed from a design meant to support connection, identity and growth for students.

The vestibule project is part of FGMA's broader partnership with District 48. Other recent projects include a new outdoor learning area and a STEAM lab, both designed to expand hands-on learning opportunities and support evolving educational experiences across the school.

In the video above, District Superintendent Dr. Amy Zaher and Director of Curriculum Dr. Christopher Martelli share how intentional design helped bring their vision to life. The result: a space that reflects who their students are today and who they hope to be tomorrow.

Superintendent Dr. Amy Zaher:

The FGMA team really listened to us. They took what we are doing, what we feel, our values within our curriculum and in our schools, and they helped us design something that really reflected who we are.

It has a presence from the street. Not only do you see this large entryway with lots of light, lots of strong lines and features, I think the way we have it designed here is a perfect way of showing security and strength, but also that warmth that you want a school to feel.

The lighting from outside shows through even at night. It's something to see when you come by at night and you see the beautiful vestibule lights all lit up and these words.

Director of Curriculum Dr. Christopher Martelli:

It's completely different from what it was, and the space is inspiring. It's nice and open. We've got all of these wonderful character traits, and that's built off of the 24 character traits of positive psychology. But the idea is, is that starting in kindergarten, we talk to our students about these traits. When they see these kinds of things like patience and gratitude and wisdom and courage, I think that speaks more to their heart about what they want for their kids.

Dr. Zaher:

What we like about this feature wall is that it makes our values timeless. This is who our students are today. This is what we want to reflect in the future. This is who we want our students to be.