Grand Rapids Public Museum High School

Partnering with the Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Rapids Public Schools worked to renovate the 1940s WPA Public Museum into an experiential learning center.

After a rigorous 11-month application and evaluation process, XQ: The Super School Project awarded the Grand Rapids Public Schools a $10 million grant to create the Public Museum High School from the vacant historic 1940 Public Museum building. The Public Museum High School is focused on creating experiential learning that leverages cultural artifacts, local impact projects, and museum studies to spark student inquiry and creativity. The facility is attached to the existing Museum archive storage building, and students will have access to artifacts to study, archive and document.

The design of the facility was an exercise in “design thinking” because an actual educational program had yet to be developed. The design team of Kingscott and Lott3Metz, in collaboration with Grand Rapids Public Schools, Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Valley State University, Kendall College and City of Grand Rapids, transformed the existing concrete shell into an exciting, flexible learning environment. It has four “guilds” with common collaboration space, a multipurpose space, an archive lab and makerspace all around the existing great hall.

The school is designed for 360 students; the first freshman class of 90 students started in 2018.

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