Transforming Middle School Open Spaces with Room Dividers

The Project: Sectioning learning areas at Black Hawk Middle School

The Challenge: Adapting an open-floor model school toward closed classroom options

The Need:

• Quick movability, adaptability, and flexibility
• Shift learning spaces with ease and creativity
• Create spaces for quiet small group work and act as a visual and auditory barrier

The Solution: Various Versare room dividers and partitions

During the school year, from 8:20 a.m. to 3:10 p.m., roughly 930 students walk through the hallways of Black Hawk Middle School, ready for the day’s agenda of academics, arts, athletics, and activities. Even with a set core curriculum and schedule structure, Black Hawk educators are embracing a lesson in flexibility in modern teaching and learning with the help of Versare room dividers.

“When the school opened in 1994, it was a completely open-floor plan,” Black Hawk Principal Anne Kusch said. “There’s definitely a movement from the open classroom model back to the closed classroom model. That’s a really an expensive feat for a public school to navigate — how to basically change the inside of a building.”

With eight large central learning areas amongst three grade levels, Kusch knew the school’s open-floor plan needed walls that could be easily moved, configured, and reconfigured to accommodate various teaching styles, activities, and group sizes.

Versare room dividers have supported learning at Black Hawk Middle School. The acoustic properties of the panels act as a sound buffer, better supporting quiet group work zones. The room dividers also act as a visual barrier, blocking sightlines and distractions across learning areas.

The home of the Panthers continues to use the multi-purpose partitions in a variety of ways. 

“COVID hit, and for a year we didn’t do any live music performances. When we could have concerts again, we moved the dividers into our gym to space people out and we’ve stuck with it,” Kusch said. “The dividers also come out of the learning areas and are on stage with our band at their concerts throughout the year. Our band directors were very excited that those were available to use.”

Room dividers are versatile tools, like educational origami, folding and unfolding to create dedicated spaces for focused learning, group work, or even student performances. For the educators and learners at Black Hawk Middle School, that versatility and flexibility is used daily.

“They’re accessible, easy to move, lightweight, and easy to collapse and put back together — just really functional,” Kusch said.

By empowering teachers to tailor spaces to diverse educational needs, Black Hawk fulfills its commitment to providing dynamic, excellent, and adaptive learning experiences for students.