This autumn, as schools get ready to welcome students back after an eventful 2020, teachers and school administrators will be looking for ways to create more physical space inside the classroom. School staff will also want to free up space in other common areas, like cafeterias, art rooms, music rehearsal halls, etc.
Responsible adults should always pay close attention to their state’s safety guidelines concerning COVID-19 — as those guidelines are often subject to change. With that advice in mind, Eagle Leasing, the Northeast’s largest trailer and container leasing company, has a few helpful storage solutions for creating more social distancing space inside the classroom.
School Storage Solutions
Reliable and adaptable school storage solutions, such as storage containers that come in a variety of sizes, have a few requirements to be truly helpful. They should be able to be kept on-site or at another location, do a lot to reduce clutter, and open up classrooms, corridors, and other school spaces.
The key to social distancing, obviously, is creating more distance between pupils as well as between students, teachers, and other school staff. While social distancing solutions will vary based on layout, generating extra space reduces the amount of physical contact and close proximity to one another students (and staff) will experience throughout the day.
By removing items that aren’t essential for everyday use — or only used occasionally — (extra desks, off-season sports gear, hangers, science class laboratory equipment, spare monitors, etc.), more room will naturally open up.
For example, if a teacher shows educational films on a big monitor once a week, that monitor can be retrieved from an on-site storage container when needed. When not in use, the monitor can be put away so it won’t crowd out valuable classroom real estate.
Storage Containers for Schools
Storage Containers, 10′, 20′ and 40′ in length, and come in different styles (high cube or double-door) can be stored on school property. Storage areas include parking lots, empty lots, fields, or even on the street — provided you have city permission, of course.
A 10-ft storage container is perfect for items that you need quick and frequent access to. If removing a significant number of desks, chairs, and cabinets from your school this year for social distancing reasons, choosing larger containers like Eagle Leasing’s standard 20-foot or 40-foot storage containers, should do the job. If you have some extra tall or oversized items to pack away, a high cube container (with more headroom) might be the best storage option for your school.
Storage Trailers for Schools
School administrators who have limited on-site exterior space or overseeing multiple schools can lease trailers, which are ideal for on-site storage as well as for transportation to other locations. We offer Storage Trailers that come in a range of sizes, from our smaller “pup” trailers to our much larger road trailers.
These trailers can be parked on-site, taken to a storage yard or facility leased or owned by your school district or moved to different locations as needed. Eagle Leasing, founded in 1967, maintains self-storage facilities (where you can park your trailers) in the Northeast, in Orange, CT, Southborough, MA, Northborough, MA and Oxford, MA.
Creative Ideas for Creating Extra Classroom Space
Depending on the size of your school and the adjoining property, it might be tricky to carve out the extra social distancing classroom space you need this year.
Some creative school storage solutions include finding ways to repurpose space already in use. For example, offices and breakrooms used by staff can be relocated to well-designed Office Trailers and Office Containers just outside the main school building(s). Former staff areas can then be used for the students, creating additional teaching spaces, or combined with adjacent rooms (knocking down walls) to build larger, roomier classrooms.
Storage Containers and Trailers are extremely useful options for schools looking to foster more social distancing space inside their classrooms and halls of education.
