New School Promotes Experiential Learning

San Diego, Ca. — The Launch Pointe at Monarch School, serving kindergarten through 12th grade, will engage students in hands-on, project-based learning. The Launch Pointe is a space where students can engage with employers, have industry partners lecture or teach a course and build an identity as a community space.

San Diego Launch Pointe SchoolPreparing students for life after Monarch includes innovative exploration, critical thinking, problem solving, hands-on learning experiences and team collaboration. The space will support these concepts with three academies: information technology, building and construction and social services. 

To encourage student ownership and pride, design features that support student personalization such as choice of lighting, a variety in levels that create zoning and interactive technologies have been incorporated into the design. Flexible furniture will support an agile and reconfigurable learning space. As students gain confidence and understand their own individual learning preferences, they will have opportunities to work in teaming and collaboration spaces to support student-centered education.

Architecture, structural engineering, MEP engineering and interior design for the project is being handled by LPA Architects. As one of the largest integrated design firms in California and Texas, LPA provides architecture, planning, landscape architecture, interior design, engineering, and graphic/signage services from early program development to project closeout.

Featured

  • Dallas ISD Voters Approve $6.2B Bond Package

    Dallas ISD voters have approved a record-setting $6.2-billion bond package that district leaders say will modernize aging campuses, eliminate portable classrooms and reshape learning environments across one of the nation’s largest school systems.

  • Can AI Help Build Stronger Communities in Student Housing?

    Student housing success is shifting from operational performance to student experience, with belonging now at the center. A recent 2025 report underscores a growing emphasis on student well-being, community, and engagement, signaling that expectations now extend beyond logistics to ensure students feel supported in their living environments. AI is enabling that shift by reducing administrative workload and giving teams more time to focus on meaningful student engagement.

  • Campus Safety Requires Using Every Resource Available

    Across the U.S., school and campus leaders are facing a security landscape that has changed dramatically over the past decade. Incidents on school property have increased in recent years, with several consecutive years setting record totals. According to analysis of data by CNN, dozens of shootings now occur on school grounds annually across K-12 and higher education environments.

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.