The new Middle school for the Robert Treat Academy is located in an urban, but residential neighborhood in the north ward section of Newark, New Jersey. The project involved studying the needs of the existing Robert Treat Academy K-3 school, as its students would be advancing to the Middle school grades from their smaller neighborhood facility. The growing population of an urban school success story and the need for a new school to be constructed and planned for future growth was the basis for the now popular Robert Treat Academy. A series of workshops were held to interview various school representatives, faculty and students themselves. The pre-design sessions translated into an aggressive program with design objectives that became the boilerplate of the schematic design. A restrictive budget was met without compromising the original design objectives and resulted in an exciting, light filled positive environment that is well respected by its students, faculty and visitors alike.