ASU Unveils Innovatively Designed Polytechnic Elementary School Building

By admin July 31, 2013 22:35

Arizona State University Preparatory Academy’s new elementary school on ASU’s Polytechnic Campus in Mesa has converted an existing building using architecture intended to reshape students’ learning experiences through forward-thinking school design.

Classes start July 31 at ASU Preparatory Academy’s Polytechnic Elementary. The ASU elementary school is located on the ASU Polytechnic campus at 6950 E. Williams Field Road in Mesa (also known as Creativity Hall), and the community is invited to its official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Open House at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19.

Claudia Mendoza, the principal of the new elementary school, said she and other school administrators are proud of the new classroom space because it offers students and faculty a learning environment that fosters teamwork, creativity and cooperation.

“ASU Preparatory Academy’s Polytechnic Elementary prides itself with providing a highly rigorous and innovative approach to project based learning,” Mendoza said. “We strive to cultivate a community of critical thinkers and life-long learners through teacher collaboration and parent involvement.”

The ASU Preparatory Academy elementary school renovation project converted an approximately 28,000-square-foot portion of an existing Veteran’s Medical Clinic on ASU’s Polytechnic Campus into a dynamic educational environment for grades PreK-6.

The public charter school’s academic goals outlined needs for a unique design approach that allows for multiple levels of instructional space from traditional classrooms to smaller break-out areas. These different areas are both internal to classrooms and in the adjacent enlarged corridor called the “Gallery,” which not only provides for central circulation but also for smaller break-out zones and individual instruction areas. All of these areas will be monitored by teachers through window walls between the two areas. The new space also offers technology bars and reading nooks in the Gallery.

Natural daylight was brought into public spaces by introducing new clerestory roof elements and additionally into classrooms through the use of Solatube skylights, which was important for classrooms in the building with no direct exterior views. The increased visibility between the Gallery and classrooms allows for natural light to be maximized within the space. This design feature is important because inadequate lighting is known to hamper learning by diminishing a student’s ability to concentrate.

Exterior play areas were thoughtfully designed as another extension of the educational environment through elements such as vegetable gardens, outdoor seating for groups and individuals, chalkboard walls, and turf areas all designed to allow students a unique environment geared towards non-traditional creative play.

An emphasis was placed on providing an environmentally responsible project that represents the commitment, goals and teaching style of the ASU Preparatory Academy.

The ASU Prep Polytechnic Elementary School will bring together first, second, third and fourth-grade students to create a multi-age classroom. Clustering students for two years will enable Polytechnic Elementary School to provide a greater degree of continuous academic growth for each individual student.

Each day will end with all students participating in a project group activity within their teams. The project group curriculum, often focusing on science or social studies, will heighten the importance of learning by allowing the students to use what they learned that day in their academic classes. Students will work on projects solving real-life problems and present their findings to their families and the community in a summative event at the end of each quarter.

Half Day Kindergarten hours are 8:15 – 11:45 a.m. Tuition-based Full Day Kindergarten is available.

• Highlights include:

◦ multi-age

◦ adjoined clusters of classrooms

◦ differentiated instruction

Details of the new building include:

• Located on ASU Polytechnic Campus

◦ Access to all facilities and programming on campus

◦ Preschool/Kindergarten playground • 17 new classrooms

◦ Fully mediated:

▪ Smart Boards

▪ ENO Boards