02/12/02

Yesterday was the first meeting of the Roosevlet High School Design Team (formally the Design Review Committee). Following are some brief minutes of the meeting.

First we were given a reminder of what the purpose of this group is by Gary Baldasari of the Seattle School District. We have changed from a "review committee" to a "design team" which means we are actually designing the school rather than just reviewing the architects designs. This new process has been approved by the Seattle School Board and therefore has their blessing, which gives us even more credibility. We will be going through a process very similar to the process the "School Design Team" went through last fall concerning the generic design specifications. Please look up their meeting minutes on the web page to get a good idea of what will be happening: <http://www.seattleschools.org/area/facilities/index/xml

Next Charlie Demming reviewed our schedule, our next meeting being on February 25 (skipping the 18th). Then everyone at the meeting introduced themselves. Lorne McConachie, of Bassetti Architects, then gave a review of the attributes established by the Seattle Design Team last fall for the School Design Standards of the Seattle School District using examples of various high schools around the country, some designed by Bassetti Architects:

Attributes of Quality,High-Achieving Schools:

  • Academic Rigor and High Expectations
  • Effective Curriculum plus Instruction
  • Common Focus
  • Healthy, Supportive School Culture and Climate
  • Small, Safe Personalized Learning Community
  • Flexible Structure
  • Learning Partnerships

These were all defined by the School Design Team last fall, and if you want to know anything more specific about these, let me know on our email.

Then Marilyn Brockman and Tony Matiatos of Bassetti Architects gave a presentation on the Themes and Guiding Principals of Quality, High Achieving Schools using some examples of Bassetti's work and other architectural examples for "out of the box" thinking.

Themes and Guiding Principals of Quality, High-Achieving Schools:

  • Learner-Centered Environment
  • Personalizing Environment Program
  • Adaptability
  • Community Connections
  • Aesthetics
  • Safety
  • Collaboration

All of these themes were supported by a rubric discussing the undeveloped, beginning, emerging, and transformation goals of each theme. Again, if you would like more complete information on these, let me know.

Followed was a brief discussion of the process we will be doing in the next four meetings, and then we were shown a binder that will be available at Roosevelt for us to check out and read articles on various aspects of the school design process. The meeting was then adjourned.

Submitted by Andrea Wilson