Glacier High School

1. 2008 Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture Glacier High School Kalispell, Montana High School Project of Distinction (New) CTA Architects Engineers

2. Glacier High School

3. Glacier Center Community Environment: The large centralized Glacier Center is the most dynamic social space in the school facility. This two-story area with heavy timber wood trusses and stone colonnade is adjacent to a multitude of student services, library, career center, administration, and Glacier themed food court.

4. Glacier Center Community Environment Cont: This flexible center also serves as the primary lobby and concessions area for all public events. School dances, pep rallies, assemblies, public meetings, speakers and diplomats have each utilized this town square forum, fostering partnerships with the community college, private businesses, and city organizations.

5. Learning Environment: The primary goal for the new Glacier High School was to enhance learning through the design of the physical environment. By dividing Glacier High School into smaller learning communities the students are actively engaged in their education, more comfortable applying what they learn, and receiving more personalized attention from their peers, mentors, and teachers. Each small community is comprised of flexible group collaborative areas, locker pods, and teacher planning rooms.

6. Learning Environment: One learning community is the freshman academy, which helps ensure a smooth transition from the many rural elementary schools and middle school to the high school environment. The other communities house the School District’s Career Fields programs. Glacier High administrators, are reporting that students, who follow a Career Fields program, are experiencing more success overall in school.

7. Physical Environment The design philosophy for Glacier High School was to create a building that reflects and preserves its regional environment. Orientated to view the snow capped peaks of Glacier National Park, the design emulates the regional mountainous materials and forms.

8. Physical Environment Sustainable strategies such as day-lighting, biomass heating, free cooling, and specialized acoustics were used to respond to the Northwest environment, lower operational costs, and promote health and comfort. Dynamic spaces, plenty of natural daylight, and sophisticated color palettes make this facility a truly remarkable learning environment.

9. Planning Process: The educational planning and visioning process actively engaged the faculty, students, parents and public through the 5-month, programming, conceptual design and schematic design phases. Facilitated by educational planner Dr. Frank Locker, the School District literally changed their entire thought processes from the traditional education model to one that not only reflects the best solution for the community, but incorporates the most progressive research-based thinking from across the country.

10. Planning Process: Key planning factors resulted in creating spaces that encourage collaborative group learning opportunities and a flexible facility that will adapt to curriculum changes, future technologies and community growth.

11. Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture 2008 Project Data

12. Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture 2008 Project Details

13. Supporting/Supplemental Files/Images Circulation Identity The main circulation paths use color and curved nodes to help with way-finding and to give each small learning community its own identity.

14. Supporting/Supplemental Files/Images Performance Hall

15. Supporting/Supplemental Files/Images Science Lab One lab is part of each small learning community

16. Supporting/Supplemental Files/Images Wolfpack PE Complex