Polaris K-12 School

Design Patterns

Welcoming Entry: This project completely reoriented the entrance of the school providing a warm south facing plaza that flows into the 'community hearth' that is the interior focus of the school. Lively colors and sunlight enliven the entry area that functions as the crossroads of the school.

Student Display Space: Before the latest renovation the school, out of interest and necessity, had developed a program of displaying student art within the building. This robust program exploded beyond the normal display cases and tack surfaces to include walls and ceilings. With the new replaceable panelized wall systems designed to be painted by students this tradition is embraced making it sustainable for the life of the school.

Art, Music, Performance: This project emphasizes the importance of artisitic expression in place-making by creating opportunities for student appropriation inside and outside. Paintable panels allow students to build a history on the walls of the school for the whole community to see. Interior panels are easily removed to create opportunities for new students to participate. Far from an ad hoc program, the school has an organized plan for submission, selection and execution run by student representatives.

Transparency: Interaction between grade levels is a cornerstone of the school's curriculum. Rather than segregate and isolate older and younger students the openness of this 2 story design encourages mixing of age groups as they share common circulation areas and resource spaces.

Interior and Exterior Vistas: Blessed by spectacular views of a nearby mountain range the classroom addition faces south and east, capturing the morning sun and views.

Indoor-Outdoor Connection: The site features a small wetlands area to the south named 'Habitat' by the students. The site makes a logical transition from formal playgrounds, to cultivated gardens to the wetlands where science classes explore and do research in their microenvironments.

Flexible Spaces: Rather than a fixed stage for performances this school chose to create a flexible 'black box' theater in their multi-purpose room. Rolling theater seating, a portable stage and flexible lighting grid allows the school to configure as a conventional stage, in the round and many other creative configurations. The student's creativity extends beyond conventional production values to the set up of the viewing experience as well.

Campfire Space: The central commons area functions as a community hearth, a place for events, celebrations and informal gatherings. Punctuated by light from south and east facing clerestories the vibrantly colored compass rose inlaid in the floor is a subtle reference to the school name (Polaris). Informal seating areas abound in stairs, nooks, overlooks, places to gather and be a part of community life.

Watering Hole Space: Small student commons spaces are scattered througout all levels of the school providing spaces for informal interaction, group study and projects. Rather than one large gathering area students preferred these small, intimate spaces that provide some privacy while still being easily supervised.

Cave Space: Informal gathering spaces are core features in the school's dynamic educational programs. Primary classrooms are grouped in triads connected by small nook areas used for breakouts and displays. Intimate commons spaces are scattered throughout the facility in nooks and crannies used for socialization and small group study. Upper and lower grades mix freely emphasizing the family nature of this school community.

Daylight and Solar Energy: New classrooms exploit expansive views of nearby mountains while south and east facing clerestory windows enliven interior spaces such as the entry and library.

Sustainable Elements and Building as 3-D Text: Interior color schemes are defined by a varied and playful use of the basic color wheel. Set whithin a neutral backdrop sequenced combinations of adjacnet colors provide an interior environment that is lively and color balanced, setting the stage for the student artwork program. All together they create a 'treasure hunt' of building elements, floor tile fragments, repeating linear patterns on the railings, shifting clusters of acoustical panels, continuous offset loops of the 6 basic colors in the gym, and exploration of the impact of combining colors at classroom entrances and within the classrooms themselves. Sometimes elegant and other times clashing the shifting color scheme aims to illuminate and educate rather than prettify the educational environment.

Local Signature: Dominant characteristics of the school culture are the high energy atmosphere and an emphasis on student appropriation/ownership of the school. Given that focus it was no surprise that when presented with exterior options the school gravitated towards an active facade that provides opportunities for student expression. Building on this theme, exterior artwork was developed in collaboration with students with further additions expected with each graduating class.

Connected to the Community: Surrounded by a freeway, self-storage yards, warehouses and auto body shops this is a highly unusual neighborhood for a school. The School has leveraged that relationship by creating partnerships, receiving and giving to the business community. As a school of choice the students and parents come from all areas of the community to take advantage of the unique educational opportunities offered. In effect the school's neighborhood is the entire city, broadening its impact and available resources.

Small Learning Community: With a population of 500 students in a K-12 curriculum this school breaks down into a series of multi-grade learning communities. Elementary groups are organized around small nook areas while upper grades are more fluid, organizing around project groups and areas of interest. Within this context interaction between upper and lower grades are encouraged with mentoring being a key component of the educational philosophy.