Kingston Intermediate School

SCOPE

Full cafeteria and serving area

LEVEL

Intermediate (grades 3–6)

LOCATION

Kingston, MA

INSTALL

7 days, Feb 12–18, 2026

THEME

Eagles Nest

OVERVIEW

Silver Lake wanted a room that gets students and staff saying “wow.” So we turned Kingston Intermediate’s cafeteria into the Eagles Nest.

A word wall runs across the storefront, a map of Historical Kingston marks where the school sits, and a realistic bald eagle swoops out of a beach scene in the corner. “Be Kind” crosses the sound panels in the five languages spoken in students’ homes, checked with the school’s ESL teachers, and the serving area tells kids to “Soar to Good Nutrition.”

Kingston Intermediate School – overview photo 1
Kingston Intermediate School – overview photo 2

THE BRIEF

We turned Kingston Intermediate’s cafeteria into the Eagles Nest, with a map of the town’s history and a bald eagle swooping in from the shore.

Silver Lake wanted a cafeteria that would help behavior and get students and staff saying “wow.”

A room that needed new paint and a cleaner look. The district asked for something grown-up, with a realistic eagle instead of a cartoon.

A clean red-and-gray design: a word wall across the storefront, a “Historical Kingston” map that marks where the school sits, and a bald eagle swooping out of a beach scene in the corner. “Be Kind” runs across the sound panels in the five languages spoken in students’ homes, and the serving area tells kids to “Soar to Good Nutrition.”

Peek Inside

Kingston Intermediate School – cafeteria after
Kingston Intermediate School – cafeteria before
Before After
Kingston Intermediate School – design session
Kingston Intermediate School – design session

The collaborative story

Designed live with
Kingston

We met five times, December 2025 to January 2026, with School Nutrition Director Megan Ahrenholz. Megan researched the history on the map herself, added the Wampanoag, and picked “Belonging” for the word wall. The Be Kind languages were checked with the school’s ESL teachers.

After seeing the finished room, the admin team at Kingston Elementary asked for a similar project.

Key Elements

  • Eagles Nest Word Wall

    • Element: Word wall (paint and PVC)
    • Location: Wall A, storefront façade

    School words chosen with the district, “Belonging” among them.

    Kingston Intermediate School – Eagles Nest Word Wall
  • Historical Kingston

    • Element: Map wall
    • Location: Wall B

    The Jones River, Kingston Bay, the Bradford House, the brig Independence and the Wampanoag, with a star marking the school.

    Kingston Intermediate School – Historical Kingston
  • Braver Than You Believe

    • Element: Wall graphics
    • Location: Wall B

    An eagle in flight beside “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think,” next to the map.

    Kingston Intermediate School – Braver Than You Believe
  • Eagle in Flight

    • Element: Eagle cutout over a beach scene
    • Location: Corner of Walls C and D

    A realistic bald eagle swooping out of a coastal beach scene that wraps the corner.

    Kingston Intermediate School – Eagle in Flight
  • Be Kind

    • Element: Sound panel graphics
    • Location: Wall C

    Be Kind in Portuguese, Spanish, Gujarati, Arabic and Polish.

    Kingston Intermediate School – Be Kind
  • Brig Independence K

    • Element: Letter graphic
    • Location: Wall D

    A giant K filled with the brig Independence, built on the Jones River in 1776.

    Kingston Intermediate School – Brig Independence K
  • Soar to Good Nutrition

    • Element: Vent hood graphics
    • Location: Serving area

    A red hood with the eagle, a row of fruit and veggies, “Kindness Matters” and “Smile Often.” The doors read Work Hard, Play Hard and “Never forget the difference you make.”

    Kingston Intermediate School – Soar to Good Nutrition

We didn't design a cafeteria.
We designed somewhere they'd actually want to be.

 

And the kids? They noticed everything.

A lot can happen with a little change
in your space
Open spiral notebook

Related Projects

LeRoy High School
High School • Mascot Theme

LeRoy High School

Knight pride graphics that turn the lunch line into a pep rally.
Cove Elementary School
Elementary • Nature & Seaside Theme

Cove Elementary School

A harborside mural that sails students through every lunch.