When educators from an international school in Germany were looking for a model school to visit, their search led them to Cranston.

A small team from the Frankfurt International School in Oberursel, Germany visited the Cranston School Department last week to tour the new Garden City Elementary School and to take a look at the recently renovated Eden Park Elementary School.

The visiting educators said that the Garden City School, designed by Fielding International, is known in the education world for its innovative and flexible use of space -- a light-filled building that enhances the educational experience for teachers and students alike.

Jean-Marie Kahn, principal of the elementary school level at the Frankfurt school, said that the team decided to travel to Cranston because of the globally known work of Fielding International architects who specialize in designing schools.

“It’s a large school, but it doesn’t feel like a large school,” she said sitting in a conference room Friday with her colleagues and administrators from Garden City.  “They have reshaped what a school can be.”

From the outside, the school, located in the heart of a residential neighborhood, looks like it was made of big colored blocks.  Inside, it is spacious and bright, with no trace of a traditional classroom and desks lined up in rows.

Instead, the learning areas are flexible with small nooks for quiet learning and comfortable, large areas for lectures or reading time.  The furniture is soft and comfortable, and desks can be easily wheeled into any configuration that best fits the lesson of the day.

The roughly 85,000 square-foot building opened in the fall of 2023 and currently houses about 532 students.  “It's important that as educators we grow and learn from each other,” said Roxanne Gustafson Executive Director of Curriculum, Assessments, and Grants for Cranston Schools.

“We are trying to optimize student learning with spaces that promote creativity, collaboration, problem solving, and engaging learning experiences,” she said. “These are important skills in 21st century learning.  Having this opportunity to meet with the educators from Germany helps us realize we are all trying to promote optimal teaching and learning experiences for our staff and students.”

The Frankfurt school visitors said that one of the most noticeable things about the school is something that is absent – excessive noise.  Nathan Strenge, a senior learning designer with Fielding, said that the generally quiet, calm feeling of the school is partly the result of acoustical design and also the fact that the interior space makes it easy for students to be relaxed and engaged in learning.

This is perhaps most evident in the huge, colorful cafeteria where there is plenty of happy chatter, but the noise level is much lower than expected.  Students can sit on upholstered benches, in rounded booths or at small congregate tables.  Colored discs cover one wall, and the expansive room is two stories high with lots of light.

Garden City Principal Bryan Byerlee said that he and his staff were happy to welcome their international visitors, and it is hopefully the beginning a connection between the two school communities.  He said the educators are talking about ways of having the students connect – possibly by video conferencing.   “It is awesome to think that because of our school, we are connecting with international friends,” he said.

Cranston school officials have called Garden City School an example of 21^st-century learning, but there are some traditions that transcend time and continents.

The school mascot did not change with the opening of the new school and the students still have “bulldog pride.”   And when asked, the visiting educators said that their school is equally proud of its mascot.  It’s a bear -- “Frankie the Bear.”