Project Spotlight: Park Hill Lead Innovation Studio
Setting the stage for innovation
The Park Hill School District is pushing itself and its peers to think in terms of “what’s next for high school curriculum?” through its LEAD Innovation Studio. Students are immersed in an entirely project-based, student-driven learning experience for their core curriculum. Temporarily housed in an office building, the new LEAD Innovation Studio will break down what it means to be a learning environment, allowing for and encouraging student innovation.
The temporary facility, designed by Hollis + Miller, has been an invaluable experimentation ground to see what kinds of spaces work and don’t work, as well as what types of spaces will be needed in the much larger permanent facility. Ultimately, the building form had to be completely rethought to accommodate this unique learning model.
LEAD Innovation Studio “challenges each student to be a LEADer, to be Empowered, to Aspire, and to Dream.” This vision pushed our design team to reimagine what a high school learning environment could look like. The District was clear that students should understand from the moment they enter that they aren’t in a typical school and should not act like a typical high school student. Rather, they should feel empowered to take their learning into their own hands. Flexible spaces that encourage community and independence offer students the opportunity to practice their soft skills of connecting while owning their learning experience.
Park Hill will break ground on the new studio in June 2019 to be ready to open for the 2020 school year.
