Two new K-12 (Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12) schools were designed and built for the York Region District School Board for the growing suburban communities north of Toronto. The floor plans are prototypes developed by the School Board as cost-efficient, value-engineered approaches to public school design to meet the Ministry of Education's targeted $120/sf construction cost. These schools are energy saving models that match CaGBC's LEED system. Minor changes are typically made to the floor plans for site specificity. The School Board's design guidelines are stringent but we took this as a positive challenge and attempted to use economical materials (brick veneer, concrete block and metal siding) in a playful, fun and non-institutional approach.