Last year, my coworker and I at Parkside School decided to try theming our classrooms like Hogwarts houses from the Harry Potter series. It went over so well with our students that we decided to take it a step further this year and Harry Potter theme our whole hallway. We hired a local artist to paint wall murals and added three-dimensional elements to give our students a totally immersive experience. We now have transformed our entire 7th and 8th-grade school hallway so that our students will feel like they are walking the halls of Hogwarts castle.
Other than the murals, the transformation has been done by the two of us with inexpensive materials and donated items. Since transforming the rooms into those from Hogwarts school last year, we have had a huge decrease in student discipline referrals and an increased interest among our middle school students in reading and discussing books.
Parkside is a K-8th grade school in rural Cullman County, Alabama. It is a title one school in an economically depressed area. The project was done completely with funds raised by our 5K race and out of teachers’ own pockets. I have no idea how many hours we have spent on it-definitely in the hundreds by now! Our principal has been very supportive of our ideas and allowing us to do this project.
Ravenclaw Classroom Entrance
Slytherin Classroom Entrance
Gryffindor Classroom Entrance (Hagrid’s Hut)
Hufflepuff Classroom Entrance
Platform 9 3/4
Whomping Willow and part of the Forbidden Forest
Dementor in the Hallway
Ravenclaw Common Room/English Lang. Arts Classroom
Details inside Slytherin Classroom
These teachers turned their boring school hallway into Hogwarts!
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Share on FacebookWow Vonskippy needs a hug stat! How are they morons because they tried to do something great for their students? I'm not even a harry potter fanatic and I love this idea. And you should check your facts because every store I've ever been in has Harry Potter birthday stuff. You need a xanax and a hug.
Forgetting the harry potter tie ins which I love, cause its HARRY POTTER, I seriously love the idea of this non traditional classroom with comfy seating and big tables to work at, learning as a school family instead of a classroom, with straight rows of chairs, though I would provide a couple of single desks for those who need them, my babushka had a flex. seating classroom, and he liked his own desk, own boundaries.
Clever, making it so kids like going to school. Such a good idea, though I wonder what other books could have been used?
This is superb!! The teachers who did this are absolutely fantastic!!
Fantastic! JK Rowling would love this as she's keen on anything that helps literacy.
That is amazing! I bet the children love it. J K Rowling is a genius
It never occurred to me before how sterile our educational environments are. Of course, adding color, texture, interesting things to see have added to the student's ability to sit and learn. How could it not?
"Wow! I can't believe we get to attend Hogwarts! I can't wait for Potions class!" "Welcome to double AP Calculus!" "Bah! Swindled!"
Great idea! I just hope they don't get pushback from the religious right in Alabma. Many fundamentalists think Harry Potter books are evil, magic & all.
They did a FANTASTIC job! Can you imagine how thrilled the kids will be? Some questions pop into my mind: This is for a jr. high school? I thought it was K-6 or so. What if some kids *hate* HP? I know if I was a kid, and this was something I didn't like, such as Star Wars, I'd be furious to have to look at all of the SW themed stuff I disliked so much. *Just an example, I don't mind SW at all. What happens when HP goes out of style? (Can that happen?! No, LOL!) And there is always one bad kid in the school who is going to destroy or steal something. Like those wands. Every kid will be trying to get one! Or something else. Hope not, the teachers and artists did an amazing job! I'm certainly NOT putting any of this down, just wondering if anyone else had the same questions that ran through my mid. Would love to hear some feedback. Kudos to the school, and the crew for investing so much time and money, I'm sure, into this. It's wonderful!
Was it platform two and the quarters at Kings Cross - been there but never read the book
Wow Vonskippy needs a hug stat! How are they morons because they tried to do something great for their students? I'm not even a harry potter fanatic and I love this idea. And you should check your facts because every store I've ever been in has Harry Potter birthday stuff. You need a xanax and a hug.
Forgetting the harry potter tie ins which I love, cause its HARRY POTTER, I seriously love the idea of this non traditional classroom with comfy seating and big tables to work at, learning as a school family instead of a classroom, with straight rows of chairs, though I would provide a couple of single desks for those who need them, my babushka had a flex. seating classroom, and he liked his own desk, own boundaries.
Clever, making it so kids like going to school. Such a good idea, though I wonder what other books could have been used?
This is superb!! The teachers who did this are absolutely fantastic!!
Fantastic! JK Rowling would love this as she's keen on anything that helps literacy.
That is amazing! I bet the children love it. J K Rowling is a genius
It never occurred to me before how sterile our educational environments are. Of course, adding color, texture, interesting things to see have added to the student's ability to sit and learn. How could it not?
"Wow! I can't believe we get to attend Hogwarts! I can't wait for Potions class!" "Welcome to double AP Calculus!" "Bah! Swindled!"
Great idea! I just hope they don't get pushback from the religious right in Alabma. Many fundamentalists think Harry Potter books are evil, magic & all.
They did a FANTASTIC job! Can you imagine how thrilled the kids will be? Some questions pop into my mind: This is for a jr. high school? I thought it was K-6 or so. What if some kids *hate* HP? I know if I was a kid, and this was something I didn't like, such as Star Wars, I'd be furious to have to look at all of the SW themed stuff I disliked so much. *Just an example, I don't mind SW at all. What happens when HP goes out of style? (Can that happen?! No, LOL!) And there is always one bad kid in the school who is going to destroy or steal something. Like those wands. Every kid will be trying to get one! Or something else. Hope not, the teachers and artists did an amazing job! I'm certainly NOT putting any of this down, just wondering if anyone else had the same questions that ran through my mid. Would love to hear some feedback. Kudos to the school, and the crew for investing so much time and money, I'm sure, into this. It's wonderful!
Was it platform two and the quarters at Kings Cross - been there but never read the book
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