Weymouth High School

Narratives

CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY

This town’s vision was to develop a comprehensive facility for all of its high school programs, creating a rich, interdisciplinary fabric combining traditional and vocational education, practice, and community values. The facility would need to accommodate 2200 students and a major vocational department to achieve this objective. One significant challenge facing this program was the fiscal necessity of utilizing an existing facility to support half of the program area. The design approach was to frame this constraint as an opportunity by developing a ‘campus’ style plan with the school organized in virtually two structures, one supporting the Arts and Humanities, the other supporting Math & Sciences.

The administration for the new school favored a departmental organization, finding efficiency in the consolidation of each department’s resources. The scale of the facility and the constraints of the existing building’s plan suited this organization. Each department was configured around a centrally located planning/workroom designed to encourage interaction between educators as well as provide a casual setting for student and teacher discourse. Between department zones were created various meeting areas designed to activate interdisciplinary dialog and learning.

The curriculum offers a diverse and comprehensive course offering including many vocational components. The Culinary Arts program is a successful educational and commercial program, hosting daily lunch service for teachers and the public as well as catering special events. The Cosmetology and Automotive Technology programs, as well as a branch of the local bank within the building, also support daily commerce between the school and the community, preparing students for post graduation business practices. The HVAC, Drafting and Carpentry programs participate in community based projects rather than all ’shop’ work, giving the students first hand experience with the professional aspects of their discipline. Other vocational programs include Technology/ Electronics, Family Consumer Sciences, and Early Childhood Development.

The town envisioned this new school to be an origin, a crossroads, and a destination within their community. In addition to techniques established for enriching the educational process through the school’s dialog with the community, so too does the school’s planning invite the public to utilize its resources. Many spaces within the complex were planned thoughtfully to be adaptable for community use, even during school hours by local organizations and civic groups. One noteworthy resource is the 70-person planetarium, equipped with a 40′ dome and retractable star projector, where public exhibitions are regularly held. The planetarium is used by the school as an educational tool to teach astronomy, and also as a tool for cross-disciplinarian learning of sub-course material in Mathematics and English/ mythology.

Ultimately, the design of the facility fulfilled the educational and philosophical objectives of the administration The campus style plan was an effective parti for developing a departmentalized setting, managing the scale and developing communities within the plan. The High School was consolidated at one location, within a budget that the Town could support, where the organization enables shared experience of multiple disciplines.

Educator Narrative

We are completing the second full year at the High School. The entire construction process was a first time experience for most of us. The Town determined a building committee that consisted of townspeople but no teachers. The high school administration recognized a true need for teacher input in the design of the complex in the project. The High School is an existing building, partially renovated, connected to a free standing building with two connectors. The building currently houses 2,000 students and 345 staff.

The process for designing the building was inclusive of staff. The teachers determined the needs for individual classroom spaces, the technology wants and needs, and the furniture design. Throughout the process, the architects listened, advised, agreed or not, depending on the issue, and produced a state of the art comprehensive high school facility.

The core of the high school is the Library/Media Center. This bright and airy space is a sprawling facility that encompasses books, reference materials, a computer lab, free space, and lots of sunshine! This space, named for our former superintendent, is an oasis of relaxation and reflection.

The school colors are maroon and gold. The existing building has a red brick face, thus called the maroon house, the newer construction has a yellow brick face, thus known as the gold house. The gold building houses the science, math, foreign language, and career and technical programs. The technology includes a computer/tv/dvd/lcd projector in every teaching and learning space. There are departmental offices for each discipline and a computer lab for each discipline. The space is bright and the teaching and learning possibilities are endless.

There are two cafeterias, one in each house. The gold house cafeteria is circular in shape with lots of windows and an industrial look ceiling. The concept is similar to a food court and the students enjoy the freedom of choosing their meals without the long lines of traditional cafeteria offerings.

There are nurse and administrative offices in each building. The emphasis is on teaching and learning and the administrative space is on a smaller scale. Extremely functional, the space is sufficient for its use.

The color scheme is soothing and pleasant. There are tones of green, blue, purple, and pink. Each section in the gold house is divided into departmental areas determined by a color scheme. These are green, red, yellow, and blue. The floor scheme, with its confetti tiles, holds these colors as predominant in the designated areas.The new High School is a community asset. Being a comprehensive high school, we have a number of career and technical areas that are open to the public. Our public area, known as the concourse, houses a student run bank, a student run restaurant, a student run bakery/student store, and a student run beauty parlor. The townspeople use these services on a daily basis and the word is out that the High School is the place to go for an inexpensive haircut and lunch!The Architects listened to the teacher concerns. They were approachable and open to suggestions and they designed a teaching and learning facility of which the Town is extremely proud!