Ridge Elementary School
SCOPE
Cafeteria, then serving area
LEVEL
Elementary (K–4)
LOCATION
Ridge, NY
INSTALL
Cafeteria over weekends, late Jan–early Feb 2025; serving area August 2025
THEME
Cubs Cafe
OVERVIEW
Ridge Elementary’s saying is “Ridge Rocks.” So we gave the school’s lion a jungle band and put music on the walls.
The lion greets kids at the storefront as a chef, then leads an orangutan, a hippo, a drummer, a mandolin player and a tiger on Wall D. Zebras, a giraffe and an elephant carry the school motto across the savanna, and printed jungle scenery with CNC-cut details ties the room together. The crew installed it over weekends, then came back the next summer to finish the serving area.
THE BRIEF
We filled Ridge Elementary’s cafeteria with a jungle band led by the school’s lion.
Ridge was part of Longwood’s district-wide program to update its school cafeterias, approved by the Board of Education in September 2023.
An institutional room that looked dated. The school’s saying is “Ridge Rocks,” so the team wanted music in the design, with the lion front and center.
The lion became a chef who greets kids at the storefront, and on Wall D he leads a jungle band: an orangutan on trumpet, a hippo on guitar, a drummer, a mandolin player and a tiger on cello. We printed the jungle scenery and cut the details in our shop, then came back the next summer to finish the serving area.
Peek Inside
Get More details about this product
The collaborative story
Designed live with
Ridge
We met on Teams seven times, September to November 2024, with Child Nutrition Director Tom Murphy and principal Chris Foster. The team helped settle how many lions and cubs made the final design.
The final artboard went to the assistant superintendent for sign-off in January, and the crew installed it over weekends.
Key Elements
-
Jungle Band
- Element: Printed wall graphics
- Location: Wall D
Under “Ridge Rock and Roar!”: an orangutan on trumpet, a hippo on guitar, drums, a mandolin and a tiger on cello, with the lion up front.
-
Let’s Eat
- Element: Sign
- Location: Wall A, storefront
A jungle signpost with “Let’s Eat” in seven languages, beside the chef lion, the Cubs Cafe sign and “Eat a rainbow of fruits and veggies everyday.”
-
Ridge Rocks
- Element: Sign
- Location: Wall B
A Ridge Rocks chalkboard between two lions, under “Like lions we rise… and shine everyday!” with an At Ridge We Are board below.
-
Every One… Every Day
- Element: Printed wall graphics
- Location: Wall C
A savanna under the school motto: singing zebras (Teamwork), a giraffe (Be Yourself), an elephant (Dream Big) and a rhino.
-
Jungle Scenery
- Element: Printed graphics with 6mm black CNC-cut accents
- Location: Around the room
Tree tops, vines, rocks and forest floor tying the room together.
Gallery
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
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