Centennial Site Visit, Calgary Alberta

On October 26th, the members of the Steering Committee visited Centennial High School in Calgary Alberta. Members present were Pam Jones, Rick Jones, Brent Moore, and Steve Anderson. The school had polished concrete floors throughout which looked amazing, however, they are not easier to maintain than other types of flooring as upkeep is about the same. Administration offices were big, bright, and quite visible from the office area. The school's mandate is that the work done in this school is public and open to all which fits with the design of the office. Initially, the school was willed into being by the community, which has a big feeling of ownership for the building and programs in it. The community vision said that the building should be a high school during the day and a post secondary space during the evening. The design of the building reflects this dual purpose.

There is excellent storage in the gym area and the school has an integrated lock down security system in place. A push of a button in the office, an announcement goes out that the school is in lock down and the interior and exterior locks are engaged. There are no lockers in main mall of the school. The space looks more like a post secondary institution rather than like a high school which makes the community more viable as the building doesn't have the look of a high school.

The school created a "Wellness Room" complete with comfy chairs and sofas. This room is intended for more informal meetings and external counseling professionals. There are outside spaces called "Learning Gardens" that are small courtyards which can be closed off and locked. They are bookable outside areas intended to be another teachable area. Might not work at CSS.

There is a commercial kitchen attached to the school's cafeteria that is spacious and roomy. There are small lockers in the kitchen allowing students to store their uniforms. The cafeteria is 2 tiered and created a versatile space for presentation on the upper level to the lower level. The cafeteria sat directly under the library, creating a focal social point and an academic point of the school. This is definitely the heart of the school. The library was the most impressive one seen by the Steering Committee. It can accommodate up to 5 classrooms with L.A. right off and connected to the it. There are offices for the Career Advisor immediately off the library as well. The library has central banks of computers and group study spaces which make it possible for many students to be in the library at once, supervised by their teachers with many sight lines as all shelving is low. The reference area is close to the entrance of the library and on-line learning area is incorporated into the library as well so students who take Distance Education have a place to work and are supervised by the librarian. The school also contains a super lab for science which makes efficient use of space and keeps the lab and classrooms separate. The super lab has a lab technician to support the space.

Despite the originally design of the school as a dual post-secondary/secondary school, there is no current partnership. In the evening, there are spaces available for rent. The entrance to the school was narrow and had no visible foyer. The open design led to a lot of noise and there was only one gym in a school of 1600 students. This leaves only one teaching space in the gym with the weight room downstairs. The open design of the school makes it one of the highest consumers of energy in the district despite it being one of the newest schools. The school is currently switching from a pod model which seemed to foster segregation rather than collaboration. The staff rooms were small and uncomfortable. The upper hallway in the main mall area was not wide enough given the sheer amount of traffic using it. It's openness to the floor makes it a danger and hazard to space-crunched students traveling it. The multipurpose room had movable walls which added to the noise problem in the school and the movable walls were unused. The retractable seats in the Theatre did not work properly if the flooring was not prepared well and cement flooring was better in this area than wood as there would be no warping. There were learning vestibules scattered around the school providing quiet working areas for students both during and after classes. However, spaces are not powered and ported and need to be as many students have laptops.

The school's Administration team made some recommendation for us in building the new school:

• Build with community use in mind.
• Take nothing for granted. Check and re-check plans to be sure the details are right.
• Choose technology carefully.
• Consider a card system for security. Staff and students wear cards and wipe when entering and leaving the building.
• Honour traditions and rituals and build with them in mind.
• Build facilities that support your staff. If the staff is happy, they will be happy in their work.
• Have abundant and easily accessible washrooms for staff.
• Have a storage specialist as part of the design team.
• Have a security specialist as part of the design team.
• If you are going with building multi-function spaces, be sure not to build with any specific subject area or use in mind.
• Create staff work space close to the staff room.
• Smaller meeting spaces are helpful and can be turned into exam writing areas or small group work areas.
• Consider small book storage areas 8-10 feet wide between classrooms. That way books are easily accessible and the space provides a sound barrier between rooms.

To see more photos of the Centennial Site visit, click here