East Trails Middle School Lee Summit

DLR Group designed East Trails Middle School, a 194,000-square-foot building on Southeast Bailey Road that opened in August 2022 as part of a $224 million district-wide bond program. Built for 1,200 students on a 50-acre campus, the school added a sixth grade to the Lee's Summit R-7 district's middle schools for the first time.

A pyramidal Linea wood slat ceiling anchors the commons, its angled planes cut through by continuous linear light fixtures coordinated to align with the panel joints. The same Linea Grille wood system continues into the library on a flatter plane, carrying the material and the daylighting strategy from the entry commons into the school's everyday spaces.