New Minnesota High School Features Industrial Tech Spaces

Minnesota’s Menahga High School opened its doors this week, while construction continues in a few areas of the school like the gym and the kitchen. The school is scheduled to be fully completed in October.

The two-level building is brightly lit with numerous windows and an open-air commons area.

“There’s so much natural light coming in,” Ashley Bachmann, a math teacher at the school, said. “I like all the different work spaces they’ve created, with tables and chairs. I think that’s so cool. It’s such a neat idea for kids to work versus just the classroom.”

The high school will feature state-of-the-art science labs, a metal shop with 10 welding stations and an industrial tech shop with small engine and small projects space. Principal Mark Frank told a local newspaper that the long-term goal is to assemble student teams who design and build their own ice-fishing houses.

The new gym scoreboard uses the same software as U.S. Bank Stadium. Students will be able to create graphics, like photos of the team lineups, for the new scoreboard.

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.

  • Zurn Elkay Releases 2025 Sustainability Report

    Zurn Elkay Water Solutions recently announced the release of its annual sustainability report, according to a news release. The 2025 report discusses the organization’s efforts to maintain good environmental stewardship and the solutions provided in helping customers meet sustainability goals.

  • Universities Continue to Launch Multimillion-Dollar Campus Transformations

    What makes the current wave of campus development especially noteworthy is its emphasis on multi-use functionality and community integration. Institutions are no longer investing solely in academic or athletic facilities in isolation. Instead, they are creating destinations that blend recreation, health, housing, and event-driven economic activity.