nation's school's volume 66 no 4 october 1960 - maine west high school

8/14/2019 Nation's School's Volume 66 No 4 October 1960 - Maine West High School

1/5

CAFETERIA is hub of traffic flow in this Midwest high school (page 94).

O C T O B E RS u p e r v i s i o n a n d the I m p r o v e m e n t of I n s t ru c t ion

Beginning a New Series of Superintenden ts Round-Tab le Discussions

S o m e L o n g - R a n g e Q u e s t i o n s A b o u t N . D .E . A .

B ib le Rea d in g in Cla ss room s A N a t ion a l I s su eThe Facts About C i t i zens Commit tees

C O M P L E T E C O N T E N T S ON P A G E S 3 and 4

T H E Nation's SchoolsT H E M A G A Z I N E OF B E T T E R S C H O O L A D M I N I S T R A T I O N


2/5

S C H O O L H O US E P L A N NI N G/S C H O O L LUNCH

Cafeter iaBOTH physically and psychologically, he round, glass-walledcafeteria (illustrated on this month'scover) of Maine Township HighSchool West, Des Plaines, III. , formsthe center of no nacademic activities.It is located on the first floor of thehub from which three two-storyacademic wings and two intermediatewings protrude. The spacious andcolorful room is a pleasant place todine for the 2450 students. It is alsothe natural social center of the schoo l.

Minimum Traffic. One outstandingfeature of the design of Maine Township West is the economy of movement. About 800 students spend atleast three-fourths of the school day ineach of the three academic wings.Since the central services administrative suite, library, auditorium, cafeteria are housed in the centralcore, student traffic is about one-thirdthat ordinarily found in a high schoolof this size.

The distance from any one of thewings to the cafeteria is relativelyshort. Handwashing facilities are provided in the corridor of each wing.Students can leave their books andpersonal items in their wing lockers,so no storage space for these isneeded in the cafeteria area. Wingpassageways merge into the wider,circular corridor space which completely circumscribes the glass-encased rotunda.

Across this corridor on one sideis a social area which in turn opensonto an open terrace. This serves asan outdoor extension of the cafeteria.Service Schedule. The lunch periodextends from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.Service is in six shifts; about 350 to500 students are excused at intervalsfor each shift. Some 1350 students(about 55 per cent) utilize the full cafeteria service. Since no separate snackbar is provided, the remaining 1100

students, who bring their lunch, filethrough the regular cafeteria linesfor milk, malted milks, and desserts.No student is permitted to leave thecampus during the school day.Students enter the cafeteria throughthe seven glass doors of the continuous glass wall. They file past oneof the two double serving lines o neon each side of the cafeteria andlocated to the rear of the room andselect any table they wish. Afterfinishing their meals, the studentsreturn the soiled dishes to the centraldish counter, possibly stop by one ofthe four drinking fountains in thecenter of the rotunda, and exitthrough the door of their choice.

Despite the freedom allowedstudents in entering and leaving thecafeteria, there is no traffic confusionor congestion. While the dining capacity is 900, there are now tablesand chairs for only 650. Thus themaximum number of students leavingat any one time through any one ofthe seven doors is an average ofless than 75; at other times there areas few as 50. Orderly exit time,clocked by teacher supervisors, hasbeen as low as 40 seconds.

Cafeteria service is provided by aprofessionally trained manager, achef, 20 full-time workers, and several student helpers.Social Center. In addition to lunchperiod use, the cafeteria also has otherfunctions:1. It is a study and visiting center'for students who arrive by bus, priorto the first class meeting .2. It is an overflow study hall dur-ing certain periods of the day whenthe three regular study halls are filled.3. It can be used fo r gro up testing .4 . It is a community meetingcenter.During after-school hours of the1959-60 school year, the cafeteriaserved more than 20,000 persons, or

Is 'Hub'of School's

Traffic Flow

94


3/5

CAFETERIA at Maine Township High School West, Des Plaines, I I I . , is center of activit ies,center of bui lding. Cafeteria is used for lunch, study hall, central staging area for buses.

F I R S T F L O O R - C E N T R A L C O R E


4/5

CIRCLING a brightred pillar in center

of cafeteria aredrinking fountains andenclosed storage cabinets.

Notice how studentsenter serving l ine throughglass doors (back center)

f rom a surrounding corr idor.

AUDITORIUM (upper left) is on second floor of central core, abovecafeteria. Floor space in front can beused for dances, exhibitions, andplacing of opera-type chairs. The latter are stored under stage when notin use. . . . FLOA TIN G STAIRC ASE(lower left), at main entrance (extreme left) to central core, leads tocafeteria on f i rst f loor and auditorium on second floor.about one-fourth of the 83,400 whoalso used the school's auditorium(above the cafeteria) and other facilities. The 83,400 persons attendedschool club meetings, a variety show,pancake day, gatherings of boy andgirl scouts and other community andcivic organizations, all-school dancesand other all-school social affairs.Food service on these occasionsgenerally is provided by the school'sown staff, although at larger gatherings catering service is arranged,aided by several school lunch department employes.

Cafeteria Design. Topping the vastlunchroom is the reinforced concreteceiling. Exposed concrete beams radiate in all directions from a massivecentral pillar to provide a clear area,120 feet in diameter, unobstructedand free from interior columns. Abovethe ceiling is the ventilation system-Within various recessed portions ofthe ceiling are mounted clusters oflight fixtures.An array of colors contributes tothe ca feteria setting. Below the

A l l p h o t o s f r o m F r a n c i s G . O w e n S t u d i o , C h i c a g o


5/5

nation's school's volume 66 no 4 october 1960 - maine west high school

Documents