The word classroom may conjure up a certain image: chalkboards, a large desk in the front of the room for the teacher and rows of individual desks.

Increasingly, though, schools are ditching the seating chart in those often claustrophobia-inducing rooms and embracing all parts of the building. Hallways, stairwells and other parts of the school now are becoming places to learn too.

Yorkville Community School District 115 in Illinois has spent nearly three years planning and executing a major renovation and expansion of its high school building.

While the impetus was overcrowding — small classrooms, tight hallways, a dark library that had low ceilings and a lack of dedicated athletic spaces — Yorkville did more than just add room, says Technology Director Ryan Adkins.

“The whole goal was to make every space in our building a learning space, whether it was a hallway, a classroom or the locker bays,” he says.

Yorkville’s classrooms now are filled with rolling chairs, maneuverable student desks and the most up-to-date technology, allowing teachers to continuously redesign their classroom space for all types of student ­collaborations and interactive lessons. And when students aren’t in class, they’re still ­collaborating all over the school, including in newly renovated common spaces.

“It’s kind of that college feel,” Adkins says.