Over 2 years ago, The Fundamental Learning Center (FLC) began fundraising efforts towards the target of $20 million to bring a new campus to life. As announced by the Wichita Eagle, “The center has met a $2 million Mabee Foundation challenge grant — a significant step in a capital campaign to build a new campus at the northeast corner of 143rd and Central.”
Leading the charge for the Center’s growth and fundraising campaign has been Jeanine Phillips, co-founder and executive director. This month, FLC officially changed its name to “The Phillips Fundamental Learning Center” in recognition of the dedication and work Phillps has put into the school’s success.
The Center’s mission was founded to provide a space to train educators and parents wanting to teach children with dyslexia and other struggling readers in 2001. Since that time, the Center has progressed to offer expanded education services including distance-learning opportunities for parents and educators not located in the Wichita area.
In order to meet their international literacy needs, TESSERE Architecture worked with The Phillips Fundamental Learning Center to design a customized space for its programs and children’s optimal learning. The design for this new building was inspired by world-renowned architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, and his unbuilt Juvenile Cultural Center, which was originally planned to be built on the campus of Wichita State University, next to the Corbin Education Center. Shaped like a flower, two major facility components (also known as “petals”) include:
- Andeel Teacher Literacy Institute – A space to provide educators and parents the tools to teach children with dyslexia
- Rolph Literacy Academy – A teaching laboratory for the students
This non-traditional facility will provide a welcoming place of comfort and safety for students, parents, and educators. Additional amenities such as a boardroom, office spaces, a children’s garden court, hospitality terrace, and a gym, which also serves as a tornado shelter, are included.
“It has been shown that children with dyslexia learn differently than others and are profoundly affected by their learning environment. This will be a new paradigm in architecture that will add to the impressive learning tools offered by the Phillips Fundamental Learning Center,” said TESSERE Architect Craig Rhodes.
Once completed, the new center will be equipped to serve 120 students, double their current capacity of 60 students. The center is expected to break ground in late 2021.
Take a virtual tour of the new campus
*Read more about this project from the Wichita Eagle here.*
