Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Minnesota District Holds Ribbon-Cutting for New High School

  • By Matt Jones
  • 10/04/23

Owatonna Public Schools in Owatonna, Minn., recently completed construction on a new high school for the district and celebrated a ribbon-cutting ceremony in late September, according to a news release. Owatonna High School covers 300,000 square feet and was designed by Wold Architects and Engineers to reflect the local community and available career paths for students.

The new facility includes spaces for career pathways like nursing, digital fabrication, the culinary arts, publishing and digital content creation, and science and engineering, according to the news release. The school also features a commons area designed to elicit the feeling of a town square, as well as ties to local industries to build partnerships between students and local businesses.

“Following years of working alongside many incredible local businesses, partners, staff and students, we are thrilled to finally open Owatonna High School and watch our students excel,” said Owatonna Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Elstad. “This school will help them foster a sense of community and ownership over their learning in an innovative and inspiring environment while serving as a source of excitement and pride for the city of Owatonna.”

Wold Architects and Engineers involved hundreds of staff members, students, community members, and local business leaders as they solicited input for the school’s design and community values. The land for the new school—as well as $20 million—was donated by mutual insurance company Federated Insurance. The district also partnered with construction manager Kraus-Anderson.

“After almost 10 years of working with Owatonna Public Schools to unite the community to successfully pass a referendum and design the district’s new high school, we’re proud to see the innovative building finally come to life,” said Wold Architects and Engineers partner Paul Aplikowski. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the district and local voices to create a school that reflects the community it serves. We are excited to see how this school realizes the district’s vision for education for many years to come and becomes a role model for the area in high school education.”

About the Author

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

Featured

  • Western Kentucky University, Gilbane Announce “Elevate WKU” Partnership

    Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky., recently announced that it has reached the financial close on a on a public-private partnership (P3) with Gilbane Development, according to a news release.

  • Purdue Fort Wayne Opens New Student Housing Complex

    Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW) in Fort Wayne, Ind., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new, 600-bed student housing complex on campus, according to a news release.

  • Nashville Elementary School Receives LEED Gold Certification

    Goodlettsville Elementary School, part of Metro Nashville Public Schools in Nashville, Tenn., recently achieved LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), according to a news release. The 81,750-square-foot school opened in 2023 and was designed by Goodwyn Mills Cawood (GMC).

  • Opportunity by Design Framework

    Opportunity by Design

    Educational improvement efforts often focus on curriculum, instruction, assessment, professional development, and intervention systems while treating the physical school building as background. But school design is not a passive backdrop to learning — it is a structural lever for equity.