Less than 90 days since election day, I am pleased to report that planning is well underway for our voter-approved bond-funded projects. Four Design Advisory Groups (DAGs), made up of over 40 people, are participating in an intensive design process with the district’s consultants, HCM, TAB, and Dynamic Program Management.
The PK-8 DAG has met five times since November. To give you a sense of their responsibilities, this month, members went on a site visit to three Western Slope schools built in the last three years: Eagle Valley Elementary (PK-5) in Eagle, Riverview School (PK-8) in Glenwood Springs, and Orchard Mesa Middle School (6–8) in Grand Junction. These visits allowed the DAG members to experience some of the latest innovations in school design and, on two of the three visits, see how the buildings were used by students and teachers.
If you view the January 9, 2020 meeting minutes (available on
buildingforthefuture.ssk12.org), you will see that the DAG members delivered an in-depth debrief of their likes and dislikes in terms of the specific school design elements they saw. When you are in a place, you not only see it, but you also feel it. You can identify the sources of calm or chaos, feel the flow of the building, and get a real sense of how spaces can obstruct or enhance learning.
As you can see in the
meeting minutes, the DAG members considered many design details, including adjacencies of educational programs, site play locations, optimal daylight in learning spaces, sustainability objectives, and the building’s scale with respect to natural surroundings. They were able to provide essential feedback to HCM to inform exterior and interior design concepts.
The full list of PK-8 DAG members is available on
buildingforthefuture.ssk12.org. These folks are graciously serving as ambassadors for many stakeholder groups in our community. They represent diverse and essential external and internal voices. Below you will find information about an upcoming community event. On March 5, the DAG will brief the community on its progress thus far and provide an opportunity to view and discuss preliminary exterior architectural renderings for the new PK-8 school.
In addition to progress made on PK-8 school design, Phase I priority projects are also gaining momentum. DAGs at schools with Phase I projects (Steamboat Springs Middle School, Soda Creek Elementary School, and Strawberry Park Elementary School) have met several times. We are preparing to update families on the Phase I priority projects during parent-teacher conferences in March when there will be an opportunity to talk with DAG members and architects from TAB about the progress of these projects. Phase II project schools (Steamboat Springs High School and North Routt Community Charter School) will launch their DAGs in March. We expect to offer similar updates for these projects in August during back-to-school events.
We are tremendously grateful to all the DAG members as they are volunteering their time away from their families and day jobs—and to our staff, who are working beyond their regular workday—to help guide the bond projects, study architectural concepts, and help us make important decisions.
We hope to see you at the PK-8 Open House event on March 5.
