Biloxi Junior High School 7th & 8th Grade
M|P Design Group
Project of Distinction 2018 Education Design Showcase
Project Information
Facility Use: Middle School
Project Type: New Construction
Category: Classrooms/Academic Buildings
Location: Biloxi, MS
District/Inst.: Biloxi Public Schools
Chief Administrator: Arthur McMillan
Completion Date: August 2017
Gross Area: 194,749 sq. ft.
Area Per Student: 105 sq. ft.
Site Size: 14.91
Current Enrollment: 1,318
Capacity: 1,860
Cost per Student: $19,354.83
Cost per Sq. Ft.: $184.85
Total Cost: $36,000,000
Biloxi, along with the rest of the Gulf Coast, has rapidly become Mississippi’s main hub for business development, commerce, entertainment, education, and tourism, and along with those blessings comes the ever-growing desire to live on the Gulf Coast. As a result, for many years now, Biloxi has seen a rising influx of new families moving into the community, continuously putting pressure on seam-busting student capacity levels in schools.
Prior to the design of the new Biloxi Junior High School, the Biloxi School District, originating back to 1879, was comprised of 80 different facility locations consisting of five elementary schools (grades 1-4), one upper elementary school (grades 5-6), one junior high school (grades 7-8), and one senior high school (grades 9-12). In 1996, the voting community and the school district had a desire and a vision to develop one large 300-acre school campus that would be comprised of all facets of the learning journey. It would be home to a new elementary school, a new upper elementary school, a new junior high school, and a new senior high school. This up and coming school campus, in conjunction with the City of Biloxi’s adjacent and interconnected A.J. Holloway Sports Complex, would also be home to all other extracurricular school district and community supporting facilities including football, baseball, softball, soccer, basketball, volleyball, tennis, and the performing arts.
The first of the schools to be constructed at this new campus back in 1998 was North Bay Elementary School, and soon to follow in 2002 was the state-of-the-art Biloxi Senior High School, which at that time was only grades 10-12. It wasn’t until 2009 that the district was able to construct an addition of a 9th grade wing to the senior high school. In the meantime, two of the five elementary schools got brand new facilities, and the remaining three were given major upgrades and overhauls. The Upper Elementary School and the Junior High School were still being housed in the original Biloxi High School, which was constructed in 1961. With that facility becoming quickly outgrown and in dire need of major repairs and upgrades, the district decided it was time to make the next move. So, in 2015 after the successful passing of a bond issue, the school district was able to add another piece to the campus puzzle, which was the design and construction of the new Biloxi Junior High School.
During the design, programming, and planning phases, the design team worked hand in hand with district administration staff, school administration staff, and a hand-full of selected teacher and student representatives to ensure that the school was designed from the macro level of administrative needs to micro level of student needs. One of the major preliminary design challenges was the actual siting of the building. Even though the property seems more than ample at 300-acres, there are large key areas that are wetlands, and a public road bisects the parcel, limiting how connectivity can occur between the separated facilities. Because of shared resources with the high school, it was vital that the new junior high be sited in close proximity to the high school. The only area large enough next to the high school at 21-acres was wetlands, and subsequently, a wetland delineation process had to take place, be accepted, and pass prior to any major design efforts.
