Design & Engineering
A Space to Create
Crane's Design and Engineering Center (DEC) is dedicated to engineering, design, robotics, and creativity. This 2,000 square foot facility has an open, flexible floor plan which can be used as a makerspace or as three separate classrooms. Three sets of french doors and a garage door open the space to an outdoor work-deck. Next to the outdoor deck is Crane’s 100-year-old oak tree; its branches shade the school’s outdoor amphitheater.
Experiential opportunities are constant in the DEC, and students learn to safely use tools to create. The DEC is stocked with supplies and tools for a wide range of robotics, creative exploration, and design projects and ample display space allows students to inspire one another. There is a woodworking area which includes table, band, and chop saws, and a metal working area with a mill, lathe, and grinding belt and a soldering area with many soldering irons. Additionally, there is a sewing area with two sewing machines. A separate technology room houses a laser cutter as well as a row of 3-D printers.
Supporting the facility is our Director of Engineering who has developed curriculum and projects which incorporate design, engineering, and technology in a STEAM-project-based exploratory program. Students from all grades have an engineering class or participate in DEC projects.
Check out projects created in Crane School's DEC: