Mobile Classroom Storage: Cut Down on Clutter with these Innovative Solutions

April 28, 2016

F-7664-5111-Santa Rosa-01-Opt 01 View 02

One of the biggest challenges facing today's teachers is available storage space.

As supplies and materials seemingly multiply exponentially, how are you supposed to stay organized and continue finding places to store teaching and learning materials?

Controlling Classroom Clutter

As your collection of teaching supplies grows, and the amount of students in your class grows, it’s important to take advantage of every storage opportunity you can. Even more important is finding clever, versatile and practical storage solutions that meet both educator and student needs. Smith System’s Cascade® Storage System, is a scalable and comprehensive way to manage learning materials with mobile storage cabinets, storage cubbies, tote trays and more. The creative storage solutions we show you below will help you decrease clutter, organize your classroom and enhance the learning process.

The Cascade® Mobile Classroom Storage Solution

In a collaborative classroom, efficiency in design, furnishings, and storage is essential. Smith System’s modular Cascade® Storage System--with transferable totes, mobile classroom storage units and teacher desks--can be configured and scaled in countless ways to help you stay organized and bring the best out of your learning environment. Highly customizable, the Cascade® Storage System is available in 9 unique sizes and 18 colors.

Cascade® Mega-Tower

This versatile mobile classroom storage unit allows educators to organize, store and distribute learning materials with ease. A high-capacity mobile classroom storage unit, the Cascade® Mega-Tower can be outfitted with either shelves or tote trays and can be further customized with a riser shelf or locking doors for added security. Also available is an optional whiteboard back. If you plan on storing laptop computers or other expensive items, the ability to lock the mobile classroom storage unit is particularly useful and gives you peace of mind when you are away from the classroom. Moreover, with four heavy-duty casters, the Cascade® Mega-Tower is easily moveable so you can spend less time putting things away and more time teaching.

When it comes to the Cascade® Storage System, it’s important to remember that, because it is so customizable, it can store nearly any item, from textbooks and paper to volleyballs and jump ropes. Available in 18 powder coat finish options and an optional whiteboard back panel, the Cascade® Mega-Tower mobile classroom storage unit can be completely customized to suit your needs. In addition to the Mega-Tower, the largest unit, Smith System® also offers the Cascade® Mid-Tower and Cascade® Mini-Tower as similar but more space efficient storage solutions.

Cascade® Mini-Case (with optional lectern)

Cascade® Mini-Case

The Cascade® Mini-Case is unique because it is relatively compact compared to the rest of the Cascade® storage line and it also accommodates an optional Riser Shelf or lectern top. As an educator, it’s beneficial to have convenient storage within arm’s-reach while lecturing students. The optional lectern top provides a strong foundation for presentation materials. This storage can be fitted with totes, shelves or an optional locking door if added security is necessary.

Cascade® Cubby

Do you remember the great feeling of walking into your preschool, kindergarten or elementary school classroom and having a personal cubby to store your belongings? It’s important to make students feel comfortable in school and cubbies are a special place where, aside from generic classroom materials, personal belongings, accomplishments and treasures can be stored and displayed. Cubbies provide a way to store things efficiently and also brighten up the classroom environment.

Smith System’s Cascade® Cubby is a mobile classroom storage solution that comes in three different sizes: Mega-Case featuring six cubby compartments, Mega-Cabinet featuring nine cubby compartments or, our largest size, the Mega-Tower Cubby featuring 12 cubby compartments. All Cascade® Cubbies come standard with 5” casters, two of which are lockable. Don’t want a mobile storage unit? Glides are also available.

Cascade® AV Presentation Carts

Cascade® AV Presentation Cart

Another unique mobile classroom storage solution offered by Smith System® is the Cascade® AV Presentation Cart, which is perfect for secure storage for AV equipment. Additionally, the cart provides a durable work surface to hold instructor notes and 3D materials. With ventilation ports on the back of the cart, you can ensure that electronic devices and projectors have the ability to cool and continue to function properly.

The cart’s locking doors open a full 270° to provide obstruction free access to AV gear and materials. There are cord access ports, data ports and two electrical outlets (four outside, one inside). With this cart, you can centralize access to power by connecting power outlets with one 12 foot cord. For added mobility, Smith System® fitted the Cascade® AV Presentation Cart with durable 5” double-wheel casters so you can roll equipment around smoothly.

Cascade® Tote Trays

Plastic Storage Totes

Tote trays and storage cabinets streamline classroom organization and optimize learning materials. In an early learning, an elementary or preschool environment where three-dimensional learning aids are integral parts of lessons, finding consistent and convenient storage can be a challenge. You may have somewhere to store materials, but when it comes time for the lesson, are they easy to locate and access?

Smith System’s Cascade® Tote Tray Storage units simplify organization so that art supplies, science tools, and other three-dimensional learning aids can be easily located, accessed and seamlessly integrated into any lesson. Each unit in Smith System’s Cascade® Storage System can be outfitted with Cascade® Storage Trays in an array of heights and widths, enabling compartmentalized and labeled organization. Shorter, wider Cascade® mobile classroom storage cabinets provide students easy access to tote trays, while taller Cascade® cabinets provide high-density storage at the teacher’s height.

Tote trays solve and simplify a number of different classroom challenges:

Individual Student Storage: In terms of individual student storage, tote trays eliminate book bags, messy desktops and can be moved from the central storage cabinet to beneath Smith System® desks. When the lesson is complete, students can move their tote trays back to the central storage cabinet, eliminating mess and clutter.

Central Classroom Storage: Cascade® Tote Tray storage units can also function as centralized storage in the classrooms. You can organize tote trays by class period, learning materials--one for markers, one for construction paper, etc. In a collaborative classroom, tote trays are particularly useful for group projects, as one tray can be loaded with tons of materials and then shared by a number of students.

Department Storage: Oftentimes, departments are required to share supplies. The Cascade® storage unit can be set up in a central location to be easily accessed, or with castors, it can be effortlessly moved to wherever supplies are needed at the time. By making shared supplies mobile and easily accessible, schools can reduce the need to buy multiple of the same materials for different classrooms.

Added accessories to the Cascade® Tote Tray storage cabinets include a riser shelf, a mount and lectern to transform the cabinet into a presentation cart and optional lockable doors to keep fragile and expensive items safe and secure. These tote tray cabinets are designed to seamlessly integrate with the other shelving and wardrobe cabinets from Smith System’s comprehensive Cascade® Storage System.

Cascade® Teacher Wardrobe Cabinet

For teacher storage, there is the Cascade® Teacher

Teacher Wardrobe Cabinet

Wardrobe Cabinet. Similar to the other storage units in the Cascade® Storage line, the Cascade® Teacher Wardrobe Cabinet is completely customizable and is available with either tote trays or shelves. It features a sturdy 18-gauge steel frame with a powder coat finish to help prevent scratching. The optional totes are removable, slide easily into their compartments and come in a variety of different sizes and depths so that you can customize the unit to your liking. The remaining compartment serves as a closet space for hanging clothes and with four heavy-duty swivel casters, you can move the unit anywhere you want.

The Cascade® Teacher Wardrobe Cabinet is available in 11 laminate colors, while Cascade® Cabinets are available in 18 powder coat finishes. The End Panels are finished in the color of your choice while the Cabinet door, top, and back panel remain the standard Platinum colored powder coat.

An Organized Classroom is an Optimized Classroom

Improving the organization of your classroom and learning materials creates an opportunity to focus on what matters: student learning. An organized learning environment reduces stress for both students and teachers by making it easier to locate and access learning materials when they are needed most.

In a collaborative classroom, the need for mobile classroom storage cabinets is clear, as both students and teachers are constantly in motion throughout the school day. With Smith System’s comprehensive Cascade® Storage System®, you can streamline and centralize classroom storage. You’ll know where everything is and with options like clear tote storage trays, you can know what’s being stored without having to dig and waste time. Designed for both students and teachers, the Cascade® Storage System provides ways for everyone to stay organized in the classroom.