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

  • Year-Round Schools Require Year-Round Indoor Air Quality Planning

    While many schools are out for the summer, year-round schools follow a more “balanced” schedule with shorter, more frequent breaks spaced throughout the school year. Even though this offers educational benefits, these facilities have less downtime for building maintenance. This can become an issue when facilities managers overlook the importance of routine HVAC maintenance and air duct cleaning services.

  • Wyoming District Breaks Ground on New Elementary School

    Laramie County School District #1 in Cheyenne, Wy., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the upcoming Mountain View Elementary School, according to a news release. The facility has an estimated completion date of summer 2028, and it will have the capacity for 650 students in fifth and sixth grade.

  • University of Pennsylvania Releases Design of Future Physical Sciences Building

    The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in Philadelphia, Penn., recently released renderings of an upcoming 350,000-square-foot Physical Sciences Building, according to news release. The facility was designed by CO Architects and will unite the university’s departments of Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, and Earth and Environmental Science.