Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Kraus-Anderson Completes $122M Career Academy High School

  • By Matt Jones
  • 02/07/23

The office of Kraus-Anderson Construction Company in Duluth, Minn., recently announced that construction is complete on the new Rock Ridge Career Academy High School in Virginia, Minn. According to a news release, the school measures in at 280,000 square feet and was designed by Cuningham Group Architecture and local firm DSGW Architects.

Amenities include an open main commons area; active learning studios and lab spaces; a CTE center; and labs for carpentry, metals, automotive work, culinary arts, and certified nursing assistant (CNA) skills. It also features a pool, gymnasium, and small- and large-scale collaboration spaces.

The school offers a wide variety of career tracks within three academies. According to the news release, the career tracks include “(1) Business Management, Administration, Arts, Communications and Information Systems; (2) Health and Human Services; and (3) Agriculture, Food, Manufacturing, Construction, Engineering and Science.” The news release reports that Rock Ridge Career Academy High School serves as the only wall-to-wall career academy school in the U.S. north of the Twin Cities area.

“Rock Ridge High School was built to be a world-class school. It was specifically designed for both direct instruction and project-based learning to flourish as teaching and learning tools in a career academy structure for all students,” said Rock Ridge Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Noel Schmidt. “It is no hyperbole to say that the community, teachers, and students can be proud of this extraordinary high school, which will be the envy of many districts throughout the State of Minnesota and United States. It is that unique.”

The school’s construction began in 2020, according to the news release.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Illinois State University Breaks Ground on College of Fine Arts Transformation

    Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts transformation project, according to university news. The series of new constructions and renovations will upgrade spaces in Centennial East, the Center for the Visual Arts, and the Center for the Performing Arts, as well as replace the existing Centennial West facility with a new Commons Building.

  • Hawaii Elementary School Breaks Ground on New Classroom Building

    Kealakehe Elementary School in Kailua, Hawaii, recently began construction on a new, $16-million classroom building for its campus, according to a news release. The 13,000-square-foot building will stand two stories and connect the existing upper and lower campuses.

  • Pitzer College

    Designing for Change in Higher Ed Learning Environments

    Higher education will continue to evolve, and learning environments must evolve with it. By prioritizing adaptable infrastructure, thoughtful reuse, strong energy performance, and wellness-centered design, campuses can create spaces that support learning today while remaining flexible for the future.

  • DFW-Area District Opens New Replacement Middle School

    The Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District near Fort Worth, Texas, recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new replacement middle school campus, according to a news release. The new facility for Wayside Middle School, originally established in 1964, was built on the site of the former district administration building and funded through Bond Proposition A in 2023.