A School on Wheels

Client: Five Keys Schools and Programs

Team: Zoe Parsigian, Julia Grinkrug, Deanna Van Buren, David Wright & Nathan Kandus (Envelope Engineers), Sudie Wentling, Sabrina Fair

Project Type: Mobile

Status: Complete

The School on Wheels project is a refurbished MUNI bus transformed into a mobile schoolhouse, complete with classroom space, a library, and computerized learning via a mobile hotspot. Additional services will include guidance counseling and social services to address issues such as substance abuse and violence prevention, which compromise learning opportunities.

These mobile school sites can move around the city, providing key resources in a community, especially for neighborhoods where the majority of residents are below the federal poverty line and frequently have limited access to personal vehicles or even public transportation. Many are single parents with limited options for childcare. Safety is frequently an issue for Five Keys students. Many can’t cross the street to attend classes out of fear that they have entered into gang territory, even if they themselves aren’t gang members.

In bringing school to the people, the School on Wheels harnesses the power of mobile infrastructure to address social change.