Working with the Recovery School District, LA in conjunction with PBK, was selected to provide consulting services in the accelerated delivery of what became the first completed replacement school for the Orleans Parish School Board following Hurricane Katrina. Among the unique considerations was a neighborhood site which was very shallow but over three blocks wide.  The buildings were arranged in staggered fashion to preserve existing trees and to define the children’s play areas; there are 33 classrooms, a resource center, administration areas, and a gymnasium. Building construction was designed to exceed applicable requirements for construction in hurricane zones and includes disaster mitigation features such as water impervious construction and elevated critical building systems. It has been designed to achieve compliance with advanced educational standards, and to surpass requirements for energy efficiency and sustainability. Langston Hughes Elementary was completed with LEED Silver certification. The school was the first new school within the Recovery School District to have been occupied and was regarded as the standard for new schools being developed for New Orleans as the entire educational system experiences re-birth following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.