Lawrence High School

Narratives

Architect Narrative

The design of this 3000 student 565,000 square foot urban high school began with intensive programming and goal setting meetings with educators, city administrators, the general public and other key stakeholders. Out of this intensive programming process six key project goals were identified.

1. “Small is Beautiful”
The design of spaces that personalize and support relationships and increase face to face contact on a small, more intimate scale were deemed the best way to ensure educational success for all of the students. The building design provides six separate school facilities which house Development Academies of 500 students each. Each of the academies will function independently. Students, teachers, and staff will be surrounded by the tools for learning for a full four years. Input from local businesses was used to develop six specialized learning environments; Health and Human Services, Applied Science/Technology, Business Management/Technology, and Arts and Communications, and two General Study Academies for the 9th grade.

2. Visual Presence and Sense of Place:
The community desired the building to have a strong visual presence and campus setting in order to emphasis its commitment to education. The building visually sits as a gateway along a major highway providing the students, faculty and staff with a strong sense of connection to the larger community. The smaller, individual Talent Academies and courtyards enable the students to experience a more intimate, personal sense of place.

3. Support the Curriculum Principles:
The entire complex and individual Academies were to be designed as tools for learning, supporting core curriculum principals.

4. Meet Cost and Schedule Goals:
Public funding put strict limitations on the available budget. It was important for the project team to meet this budget, and to have the building open on schedule as planned.

5. The City as Allegory
The design of this school building is based on an allegorical representation of the historic mill city this facility serves. The six 4 story Academies represent the mill buildings lining the canals and river which wind through the city. The artery, which previously carried commercial traffic through the city, is now represented by the pedestrian pathways connecting the Academies to the city center or core facility spaces. As the river and canals create neighborhoods, the school’s major artery separates community and school core spaces from the individual Academies. As the city’s scale is broken down into smaller neighborhoods, so too is the massing of this new high school modeled on the urban fabric of the city.

6. The School as a Community Resource:
The design team included facilities that could be utilized by the public, enabling to the building to function as a central community resource. The Community Health Center, Media/Technology Center, Performing Arts Center, Athletic Facilities and Field House are separated from the Academies by the main artery, allowing for public access, but ensuring student security. These facilities offer opportunities for community events and public involvement in school programs.

Educator Narrative

The new high school under construction has been designed to align with the school’s vision of smaller learning communities where students are able to: achieve academic success, receive the supports necessary to succeed, demonstrate responsibility, and exhibit pride in their achievements. The design has allowed for the development of six stand-alone theme high schools, each accommodating approximately 500 students, within the confines of the overall educational complex. These smaller learning communities, or schools, allow for personalization for students so that no student can slip through the cracks or get lost in the crowd. The six schools span across the campus evenly, providing easy access to all schools and to common spaces (cafeteria, media center, central administration building, field house, and performing arts center) via a bridge walkway.

Although the schools are configured similarly, they are differentiated in terms of their configurations of classroom space, specialty equipment and furnishings, and easily identifiable color schemes. Each school will provide students with the ability to explore with like-minded peers their interests in a specific area or theme, such as Science/ Technology or Performing/Fine Arts. This allows each school to develop its own identity through differentiation of courses and activities and overall school layout. For example, students in the Science and Technology School will have access to courses in graphics design, website development, and robotics. The school will therefore have more computer labs, graphics computers, a model shop, and specialized equipment for technology design and application work. Each school is designed to allow for this flexibility while still providing the core curriculum required for high school graduation. In addition to the individual school structures, the educational complex provides students with easy access to art, music, and dance studios; a large athletic complex and several athletic fields within the boundaries of the campus; and an outdoor common area for relaxing or congregating after school when the climate is at its best!

The autonomies for the small schools generated by the design of the complex contribute in a wonderful way to creating positive relationships between teachers and students. The opportunity for everyone to know one another is significantly enhanced by the self-contained nature of each school’s four floors and 32 classrooms. Research is clear that when anonymity is diminished, students become more engaged with their teachers as partners in learning. The design also impacts adult relationships, for when 35 teachers work closely together within a small school, collegial sharing takes place more often and collaborative planning of curriculum and instructional strategies are more easily achieved.

The overall complex has also been designed and orchestrated to be a high-tech entity with such advanced technology as remotely operated LCD projection systems in each classroom and a card access security system. Access to e-mail and to internet networks within every classroom increases teachers’ lesson options and promotes more successful learning experiences for students.

The design of this new high school is unique in its provision of intimacy for learning inside individual classrooms while also enabling students and teachers to access centrally-located state-of-the-art athletic, academic, and artistic facilities. Urban school systems have turned to small high schools to improve student achievement, but the new high school is one of the first designs to provide geographically autonomous small schools on a campus. The city in which the high school is located has always had but one high school with traditions that unite all of the diverse neighborhoods and generations of graduates. This design artfully maintains the integrity of the “one” high school while wonderfully providing the personalized learning experiences for students usually found only in smaller communities.