Matanuska-Susitna Career and Technical High School

Narratives

Educator Narrative

The school building has been an integral part of the development of the student culture. This positive student culture has been recognized world wide. Open areas of learning, coupled with the dedicated career pathway hallways, have focused the students’ attitudes and behaviors. The professional design of the building has promoted the career pathways and career academy model. Simply put the building does not look like a traditional school. As many students and parents have said, “it looks like an office or professional building, not a school”. This has helped set the framework of the mission of the school, and helped the students set themselves up for successful careers.

What exemplary ideas do the designs contain that enhance learning?

Design Response
A natural outgrowth of the project vision and planning process, pathways revolve around the Multipurpose/Partners Room creating a strong sense of cohesion within this diverse learning community. Responses to the Ed Spec, Learning Plan and Learning Signature include:

• Future Proofing: the school is organized and situated on the site so each pathway can expand incrementally and major expansion can happen to the south, adding pathways and core services. Within the facility, agile spaces allow for economical and smooth daily transformation as well as long term adaptation to changing community needs.

• First Impressions: the dynamic entrance canopy reaches out dramatically proclaiming the school’s technical orientation and leading to an expansively glazed entry lobby. Low winter sun penetrates the entry and MPR/Partners Room creating a warm, welcoming experience for students, staff and visitors.

• Natural Patterns respond to the program’s relationship to the dramatic local landscape forms. Exterior wall systems feature undulating, connecting patterns with a ‘glacial’ color scheme. Flowing textures on interior concrete floors and railings respond to the Learning Signature’s allusion to the ‘connecting, changing, dynamic Matanuska River.’ Much more than an aesthetic device, they give visible form to the changeable and connecting nature of the community, spaces and programs.

• Outdoor Learning areas are oriented towards the sun, protected from prevailing winds and weather, connecting visually and programmatically to the interior learning spaces. Learning, socializing and celebrating spills out into the sun filled patio areas through a large overhead door.

• Pathway Identities: portals incorporate angular shapes, distinctive colors and custom logos creating individual identities for each pathway connected to the whole through the MPR/Partners Room, creating layers of community. As one moves through the portal, each small learning community further expresses its own personality, culture and supporting environment.

• Buildings Teach: architectural features and advanced engineering systems are on display, intriguing and challenging students to learn more about the world around them, especially appropriate for a program that includes Architecture, Engineering & Construction. Visible systems include cable distribution, ductwork, lighting and an innovative buckling restraint seismic bracing system.

• Transformational Spaces like adaptable labs, flexible learning areas and reconfigurable MPR/Partners Room respond to changing community needs. Seismic braces located at the perimeter of the modularly designed learning spaces allow for adaptation over time to a more individual based learning or other program model.

• Community Outreach: Designed for meaningful community interaction, the expansive and flexible MPR/Partners room creates an excellent after-hours venue where large gatherings can be easily accommodated while maintaining building security. An overhead door provides access for large equipment, vehicles and exhibits. Teacher collaboration spaces, included in each pathway, integrate outside expert instructors providing peer-to-peer learning experiences for staff and faculty. Each pathway has a separate exterior entrance as well as the portal to the MPR/Partners Room to provide flexible access for the community and business partners.

• Sustainable Features include high performance glass, low maintenance polished concrete floors, prefinished wall materials (less painting), highly efficient mechanical and lighting systems and readily accessible infrastructure. The existing mature birch forest is substantially preserved screening parking, providing buffers to neighborhoods and enhancing recreational opportunities for school programs. Located adjacent to an existing Middle School the program shares athletic fields further reducing tree cutting requirements.

• Inspiring and motivating students, this bold facility brings the power of the Alaskan landscape and technology together. The new facility creates a positive and visible focus for the Borough CTE programs with strong connections to the community and business partners. At once fun and serious, students respond with pride to its strong sense of purpose and unique expression.

What innovations in the planning, programming and design process supported the realization of those exemplary ideas?

Serving a Borough the geographic size of Delaware with a population of less than 80,000, the Career & Technical High School’s constituents range from small cities to sparsely populated subsistence based communities. Dissatisfied with the District’s traditional vocational Ed Spec, the Borough’s Career & Technical Education Division (CTE) was looking for a fresh, relevant response to their innovative, community based program. With less than 2 months to explore new directions, update the Ed Spec and create a concept design the project team adopted an integrated approach combining concept design activities with visioning exercises in a series of interactive user driven workshops. Breaking from the usual linear progression this process created unique opportunities and insights as design and program discussions evolved on parallel tracks. The more than 50 participants included a broad range of school, community and business partners creating diverse and highly relevant input. Published as a supplement to the Ed Spec the Learning Plan summarizes the process and identifies critical areas of change and sets the stage for future exploration and growth of the CTE program. Key elements of this Learning Plan include:

• Create Learning Networks: while functioning as a comprehensive full time high school the facility should also serve part time high school students with future plans to serve post secondary and adult learners. Distance learning programs should reach out to remote areas of the Borough, State and the world.

• Integrate Academics: collocate academic and technical spaces to support the integrated, academy style curriculum, meeting the expectations for both continued post secondary learning and productive family-wage work.

• Adapt to Change: flexible instructional spaces should support individual, small group and large group learning with offices, technical laboratories, resources, and storage for project based learning. Over time it should be capable of transitioning from a classroom based instruction model to an individual standards based instructional model. Shared core functions should have the agility to change throughout the day to meet multiple needs and future program changes.

• Decentralized Resources: locate shared resources where they are needed most. Administrative functions should be located in or near career pathways to improve interactions between students, school staff and administrators. Libraries and other technical resources are included in each pathway where they provide ready references for hands-on learning.

• Create Compelling Identities: develop a sense of belonging and pride for each student, staff member, parent and community partner. Express the unique, compelling vision of the Center’s educational aspirations through development of a relevant Learning Signature. Within the complex develop unique identities for each small learning community of 100 students.

• Embrace the Community: recognize the community as the ultimate client, a source of vitality and renewal for the program. Create relevant, meaningful opportunities for business partner interaction within the daily operations of the school.