Belchertown High School

Narratives

Architect Narrative

The mission of the high school is to provide a quality education for all students in a positive, safe, and caring environment. In the town, education is considered the shared responsibility of students, parents, educators, and community. Because the town considers the high school a truly civic building, the facility is designed as a community resource. Music, athletic, library/media and dramatic arts areas serve the community during evenings and weekends, as do their respective lobbies and the cafeteria. Faculty, staff, administration and community members participated in the planning so that each space would offer the most effective, flexible and comfortable learning environment.

The educational program is a departmental organization, but able to support a liberal arts platform to share resources and learned experiences between departments.
The concept of a “main street” was developed with common areas for shared learning strategically placed to encourage interaction. The gymnasium is at one end of the corridor and the auditorium and cafeteria at the other to establish clear reference points for way finding. Three lobbies bring the design and population together - the main entrance lobby, the monumental staircase and the cafeteria/auditorium lobby.

The main lobby is for visitors to the main office and athletic facilities. The gymnasium provides three full teaching stations for educational and community use, basketball and volleyball courts. The town has a large population of seniors, who the planners wanted to draw into the design process. The result of this is a unique indoor, raised walking track around the perimeter of the gymnasium, allowing seniors to exercise during the day without disturbing classes.

The monumental stair is the focal point of the design. Spanning three floors, the circle motif (evident in the floor and ceiling details) draws the various parts of the school together. On the first floor, the guidance area brings students together. On the second, the interdepartmental meeting rooms bring students and teachers together. Crowning the monumental stair is the library/media center - the “hub” of the school. Here students and teachers can work individually or communally and reach the world through technology. Members of the community use the space for meetings and special events.

Adjacent to the library is a Multipurpose Smart Classroom designed for three different functions. It acts as a medium sized assembly space accommodating 2-3 classrooms at a time. Because it is adjacent to the media/TV control room, it can also be used as a television production studio. The final function is still in development and will provide distance learning and feature virtual classroom programs.

The cafeteria/auditorium lobby serves as an informal student gathering space, with a large wooden bench. The area can be secured off from other areas of the school for after hours when it serves as a lobby for community events taking place in the auditorium and cafeteria.

The auditorium, outfitted with acoustical panels, theater lighting, a sound booth and a new baby grand piano provides the school and community with space for their active musical and theatrical groups. The Principal hopes the new space will eventually evolve into a community friendly area with family or movie nights.

Educator Narrative

In August 2002, we moved into our new high school. Our new, state-of-the-art high school is simply awesome! We have a high school that we are able to call our “own” because of the input that administrators, teachers, educational support personnel, students, and community members were able to give to our architectural firm. Our architect listened to us, advised us, and guided us through this process which for most of us was the first building project we had ever been involved with and for most of us, it will probably be our last!

In the initial stages of the project, our architect and his colleagues met with us regularly and listened to the needs we had for our educational space. This was a key component to this project. Administrators, teachers, and educational support personnel felt comfortable speaking with our architect and we knew that he was listening to us. Our architect understood that we had the expertise in the area of high school education and he translated our issues and concerns in the design of the building.

Coming from a small, crowded building with a real sense of community though, our architect was able to create for us a beautiful, spacious building that still includes that sense of community. Our library media center remains the “hub” of our high school. Our architect spent a great deal of time with our library media specialist who wanted that perfect setting for our students and teachers. That setting was most definitely created. Many students and teachers utilize this space on a daily basis. Our community members use it as well for a variety of meetings and special events. It is an outstanding learning environment.

Our teachers and students simply love their classrooms. The rooms are large and bright. Technology abounds in the classroom and our teachers integrate this technology on a daily basis. Our students are in an environment that is so conducive to the learning process.

Our teachers have workrooms where they can use computers, copiers, phones — a space where they can work or simply relax during a preparation period. These workrooms help our teachers to feel like the professionals that they truly are.

Our first year in our new building is coming to a close and it has been a very successful year. Our new building has given us the opportunity to provide our students with the very best educational experience. We were very fortunate to work with an excellent architect who listened to us, advised us, guided us, and included us in a building project that we now call our own. It has been an incredible journey and we are grateful to our architectural firm for all that they have done for us to make our new high school a reality.