ACES at Leeder Hill
Hamden, CT – Silver / Petrucelli + Associates has announced the completion of the $75 million, 140,000sf school campus that consolidates two special education programs for Area Cooperative Education Services (ACES). The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on Sept. 18.
The new campus located on Leeder Hill Road in Hamden is home to the ACES Whitney Academy EXPLORE & CREATE and ACES Whitney High School North. It serves 300 students with special needs. Both schools offer a therapeutic environment for students ages 14 to 21 who exhibit cognitive, physical, behavioral, language and medical challenges. Academic and vocational training as well as transition-to-life skills are at the center of the ACES mission.
“Designing this unique and modern facility has been an honor,” said David Stein, AIA, project manager for the project. “Specialty labs, occupational therapy rooms and sensory and aquatic therapy rooms complement the vocational spaces for food service, warehouse and auto shop instruction. We flooded the facility with natural light and our interior designers specified colors, patterns, materials and furniture appropriate for this specific student population. Completing the project on time and under budget by $13.8 million is especially gratifying for our design team and the client.”
ACES is a regional educational service center that serves 2,300 students from 57 communities through Connecticut.
