Joshua Hills Elementary School, Future Learning Environment

Palmdale, California

Firm

High Performance Learning Environments

Client

Palmdale School District

Area

3,840 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$365,451

Completion Date

08/2018

Chelsea Orzechowski, Matthew J. Davis

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Palmdale School District has a vision that every student leaves ready for success in high school and beyond: college, career, the global world. To help build upon its vision, the district has adopted a “student-centric” facilities master plan to modernize school facilities with 21st-century learning environments.

The Promise Facilities Master Plan, as it is known, is funded by bond PSD, which voters approved in 2016. It called for updating classrooms, labs and learning technology; repairing leaky roofs and windows; improving school safety, security, energy and water efficiency; accommodating enrollment growth; and repairing, constructing and acquiring equipment for classrooms, sites and facilities.

The first project completed under measure PSD is Joshua Hills Elementary School Future Learning Environments (FLE). Joshua Hills is the prototype for FLEs in the district. HPLE CEO & Principal Jaime Ortiz defines an FLE as “a future-focused learning environment which allows teachers to personalize their approach with each student in the classroom. Having flexibility to offer students different work stations to transition from helps students understand how they learn. The students become co-designers of their curriculum. This approach is being adopted at the professional level more frequently and it is important that we are preparing our students for this type of working environment.”

The Joshua Hills Future Learning Environment has flexible and functional features such as:
1. Walls that have alternating tackable and white board surfaces
2. Furniture of varying sizes and design, most of which are on casters, so that the classroom configuration can be adjusted based on the lesson plan
3. Handsfree microphones and audio systems, which increase student comprehension and performance and lessen the strain on a teacher’s voice
4. Interactive display boards at the front of the classroom that provide a tablet-like experience
5. iPads that give students the freedom to explore and express ideas whenever and wherever inspiration strikes, creating a personal learning experience for each student
Work began on two more schools in April 2019. The Palmdale district is focused on building globally competitive learning environments for every student.”