Legacy Christian Academy

Legacy Christian Academy

Ramsey, MNConcept Award Category

Cuningham Group Architecture P.A.

2011 Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture

Legacy Christian AcademyMain Exterior Perspective

Legacy Christian AcademyMain Site Diagram

FutureNeighborhood

6 – 12Neighborhood

K – 5Neighborhood

Future Preschool

LegacyCommons

Kitchen

GymFuture AthleticsGardens

Gardens

PlayService

Bus Loop

Staff Parking

ParkingParking

Drop Off / Pick Up

AthleticFields

Legacy Christian AcademyCommunity Environment

Right from the start key stakeholders including school staff and administration, parents, students, community and civic leaders along with neighborhood representatives were engaged in conversations that started with the articulation of a shared vision for learning and worked its way to defining the attributes of a unique Learning Experience that would enable this Community to live out their vision to the fullest extent possible. The process was kicked off with a Workshop Charrette wherein a shared Vision for Learning was articulated and a conceptual design was created using a three-dimensional modeling program that allowed participants to actively participate in shaping the design. Community members were invited to participate throughout the entire process on a variety of levels ranging from the larger Steering Committee on down to small Focus Groups, creating ownership and buy-in. Located in the starter community of Ramsey, Minnesota, time was spent sharing and understanding the unique qualities of this growing community and in understanding how the school and community could mutually benefit from one another. More specifically with the school’s location directly adjacent to the COR (Core of Ramsey) which will serve as its civic, business and cultural hub, opportunities were identified that would both bring the community into the learning process as well as send learners out into the community to apply their learning. Such partnerships would allow the learners to connect their learning to real life, and also allow the community to play an active role in helping shape their future workforce. The end result is the creation of learning experiences that are memorable and meaningful by allowing the students to give back to their communities.


Community Context


Community Outdoor Learning Environments

Legacy Christian AcademyLearning Environment

Key Messages• Collaboration: Centered around a spirit of Team Building and Collaboration which is reflected on a range of scales throughout the facility: Whole school, within Administration, within the individual Neighborhoods, and also within the Staff Areas

• Neighborhoods: Organized into neighborhoods to foster connections and relationships on a variety of levels

• Flexibility: Settings are flexible to support a range of learning styles and a variety of learning activities and can evolve over time as staff continues to grow and change

• Agility: Furniture and walls are mobile to allow the learners to rapidly reconfigure space to support a change in learning activities throughout the day

• The traditional notion of “classrooms” are replaced with “Learning Settings” which allow for a variety of different sized groupings and Learner-to-Guide ratios

• Flexible Lab spaces within each Neighborhood with access to water and resources that support a range of active, hands-on, project based learning activities

• A variety of different scaled settings with a range of acoustical privacy to support both collaborative activities and those needed for thinking and personal reflection

• Technology that is ubiquitous: necessary and invisible fostering collaboration everywhere and anywhere and integrated into the learning to connect learners globally and locally blurring the lines of the physical facility


Learning Vision -- Our planning discussions focused first on articulating a Shared Vision for Learning, which guided the entire planning and design process:

We Envision…

A Christ-centered campus that is designed to use its beautiful natural setting to

enhance life-long 24/7 year-round learning. The school will provide cutting edge

curriculum, state-of-the-art technology, quality athletic and fine arts facilities, a

well trained and vibrant faculty and staff, and an environment that celebrates the

unique God given talents and diversity of each student. The campus and its

programs will be a beacon to the community and a model for excellence in

education.


Legacy Commons – Interior Perspective


Learning Expectations and Goals – The list of attributes for the learners of Legacy Christian Academy was identified and includes:• Life-long learners• Creative and Innovative• Curious• Problem solvers• Critical thinkers• Citizens• Respectful• Know and love God ready to impact the world• Learners who strive for their personal best• Learners who take charge of their own learning

The list of attributes for the staff of Legacy Christian Academy includes:• Spirit of collaboration• Passionate who inspire in their learners a quest for excellence• Committed to engaging their students• Enthused, joyful and challenged to be at their utmost• Life-long learners• Facilitators• Innovative

Learning Process – the instructional strategies necessary to meet the goals were identified:• Active, hands-on, project-based learning• Differentiated Instruction to support all learning styles• Activities centered around team building/collaboration• Rigor – relevance – relationships – respect• Focused on the Whole learner: academic, spiritual, physical, emotional, and artistic


Organization – all the ways to organize learners, staff, technology and time were brainstormed and include:

• Integrated academics/curriculum

• Collaborative teaching

• Arranged into skill-appropriate neighborhoods

• Flexible to accommodate: • different arrangements of learners organized by skills and not just by “date of manufacture” Sir Ken Robinson

• longer blocks of time to support more intensive project based activities

• multiple student/staff ratios to accommodate a range of activities and needs

• Teachers organized into collaborative space to coordinate learning activities and to demonstrate collaboration to their learners

• Administration organized to reflect the collaborative spirit of Legacy

Workshop building blocks

Workshop Sketchup model


K-5 Learning Commons


6-12 Learning Commons


Learning Technology – all the different ways to integrate technology into the learning includes:

•Ubiquitous to support a learning anywhere-anytime philosophy

•Respected for its role as a tool for learning and not an end in and of itself

•Flexible, understanding its propensity to continually increase its capacity while decreasing its size

•Integrated into the learning to connect learners globally and locally blurring the lines of the physical facility

Media Lab Sketchup Model


Learning Environment – ways in which the physical environment can support learning were then identified and include:

• Celebrates learning

• Nurturing

• Spaces for thinking and personal reflection

• Spaces to collaborate: learner to learner, learner to teacher, small/medium/large groups

• Spaces to create

• Spaces for movement

• Safe

• Welcoming / warm

• Engage the whole family

• Multi-use physical education/recreation facilities for student/community/family use

6-12 Neighborhood

Legacy Christian AcademyPhysical Environment

Key Messages - Relates to the learner/user; Supports the learning environment activities

• To best prepare these learners to successfully compete in a Global Knowledge Economy and understanding the importance of fostering relationships, collaboration ,teamwork and citizenship, multiple scaled Commons /Collaboration spaces are provided throughout

• Supports the range of unique learning styles through the multiple arrangements of learning environments that can be shaped and easily reconfigured throughout each day • Maximizes the learning potential of every square foot with a philosophy that every space should be a place for learning

• Celebrates the learning and takes full use of the daylight by maximizing the transparency provided between the learning settings and the public spaces

• Accommodates a variety of different scaled group activities including kinesthetic, collaborative and reflective learning

• Supports the joy of reading by providing access to books throughout all pathways (circulation) and commons areas

• Supports a commitment that technology should be ubiquitous and integrated into the learning with wireless access throughout

• Creates Flex Lab spaces to support a range of project-based, hands-on activities with ample storage

• Organized into Neighborhoods each with its own identity and the ability to accommodate (200) learners per level with flexibility to group in a variety of ways

• Tailors each Neighborhood to meet the unique needs of the learners it serves (next slide)


Younger Learners• For the younger learners, the learning settings support the special, consistent, one-on-one relationship with the teachers • Supports the need for instilling a love of reading in the younger learners by equipping its Neighborhood Commons area to function as their media center with physical books tailored to this age and ability and easily accessible

• Recognizing the importance of hands-on, project based learning, locates access to water and resources within each learning setting

Middle and Upper Learners• Maximizes the flexibility of the learning settings doubling their typical size and using mobile furniture to shape and reconfigure them to support the specific learning activities

• Embraces this age group’s love of technology by transforming the traditional Media Lab into more of an “Apple” store approach with numerous LCD screens along the perimeter and flexible furniture to support collaboration

• Maximizes the flexibility of traditional single-purposed science labs by creating Flex Labs and leveraging technology for simulation

• Utilizes the DIRTT Wall system between the Learning Settings and the Commons areas , a flexible wall system that integrates technology, display and a range of transparency, translucency between spaces

Overall Building Massing and Materials


Sustainability• Acknowledges technology’s role in reducing waste with a commitment to use on-line textbooks for learning• Infuses the center of the building with day light reducing demand for artificial lighting• Provides nearly all occupied spaces with natural light and exterior views• Provides new lighting that is energy efficient and controlled by the energy management system• Directs rainwater runoff to sod and planted areas• Provides new landscaping with drought resistant plantings that require no irrigation

Appropriate use of materials, systems and other building elements• Utilizes recycled content materials where appropriate• Specified low emitting materials, paints and adhesives • Utilizes substrate concrete floors that are stained in patterns for the finished floor and structure in one material solution with long life and low maintenance

Relates to the existing site and the greater environment• Partnered with the City to integrate the site in with the City of Ramsey Town Center Master Plan • Takes advantage of its beautiful natural setting by maximizing opportunities for outdoor learning• Bounded on the north by a natural wetland the school is sited to provide outdoor transition spaces along a meandering path with learning stations

Site Photos


Inspires both internally and externally• Utilizes materials, arrangement of space, daylight and openness to reflect the attributes of the Learning Signature articulated in the community workshops: • Learning Signature

• Beacon of light • Hub/Heart/Faith Center• Wow for God’s work and love

• Invites the community into the heart of the campus, the Legacy Commons, through a flexible, secular design that can be transformed to support the more spiritually focused activities as needed• Incorporates a stone base on the exterior to reinforce the notion of a solid foundation, brick for stability, stucco panels that integrate the school’s mascot, and metal panels for a contemporary appeal to the learners• Opens up the learning both to the community at large and the school community through the flow of spaces and transparency• Utilizes warm, vibrant colors to reflect a welcoming atmosphere and a joy of learning

Successfully achieves the Vision and GoalsThrough a collaborative process that engaged the school community and the community at large to articulate a shared Vision and Goals for learning, an environment was created that blurs the boundaries of space to embrace a learning anytime, anywhere model and that reflects the uniqueness of each of its learners resulting in the creation of memorable, meaningful learning experiences for everyone.

Legacy Christian AcademyPlanning Process

• Engaged all levels of Learners in the discussion to brainstorm their dreams for creating a memorable, meaningful learning experience

• Shared a myriad of current research among all the planning committee members to elevate the quality of the conversations

• Paralleled their Strategic Planning process , rebranding themselves as a community integrating and reinforcing these concepts into a cohesive plan

• Brought in a nationally recognized Thought Leader to bring staff along encouraging them to think differently and to coalesce around a new approach to learning

• Utilized tours of existing, relevant learning environments to better understand the connection between space and learning

• Had regular planning and programming meetings to check progress and continually drive the conversations down to a level where even the details reflect their Vision for Learning

• Began all conversations with a review of the Vision and Goals for Learning to ensure the resulting physical environment is in alignment


Key Messages• Utilized the following Educational Plan Framework to guide the planning conversations:

Educational Plan Framework – A set of elements, each building on the other, constitute the Educational Plan:

Learning Vision – what is your vision for Legacy Christian Academy?Expectations / Goals – what should the learner know?Learning Process – what instructional strategies are necessary to meet the goals?Organization – How are learners, staff, technology and time organized?Learning Technology – How is technology integrated into the learning?Learning Environment – How can the physical spaces support learning?Learning Partnerships – What partnerships can enrich learning?Learning Signature – What makes the school unique?

• Multiple opportunities for participation throughout the process from the broad stakeholder participation of the Steering Committee to smaller, more intimate Focus Groups

• Charrette Workshop that engaged representatives from all the major Stakeholder groups right from the start in crafting their Vision and Beliefs about learning, and even engaging them in the conceptual design of their learning environment

• Young, growing surrounding community brought in early and regularly as partners to brainstorm how each could be a resource to the other and a catalyst for growth


Learning Expectations and Goals – The list of attributes for the learners of Legacy Christian Academy was identified and includes:

• Life-long learners • Creative and Innovative• Curious• Problem solvers• Critical thinkers• Citizens• Respectful• Know and love God ready to impact the world• Learners who strive for their personal best• Learners who take charge of their own learning

The list of attributes for the staff of Legacy Christian Academy includes:

• Spirit of collaboration• Passionate who inspire in their learners a quest for excellence• Committed to engaging their students• Enthused, joyful and challenged to be at their utmost• Life-long learners• Facilitators• Innovative

Neighborhoods

Christian Hub

Views To Wetlands

Southern Entry

Western Playfields

Gym To Northwest

Workshop diagram

Legacy Christian AcademyPlanning Process – 2010 Schedule of Events

Legacy Christian AcademyLevel 1 Floor Plan

6 - 12Neighborhood

K - 5Neighborhood

WelcomeCenter

Administration

LegacyCommons Music

Band / Vocal

Kitchen

Lab

Lab Commons

Commons

Gym

Legacy Christian AcademyLevel 2 Floor Plan

K - 5Neighborhood

6 - 12Neighborhood

Media Lab

Administration

Lab

Lab

StudentLounge

LegacyCommons

Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture 2010 Project Data

Submitting Firm : Cuningham Group Architecture, P.A.Project Role Programming, Architecture and Interior DesignProject Contact Brian Tempas, AIATitle PrincipalAddress 201 Main Street SE, Suite 325City, State or Province, Country Minneapolis, MN 55414, USAPhone 612-379-5543

Joint Partner Firm: Reigstad & Associates, Inc.Project Role Structural ConsultantProject Contact Jared ReigstadTitle Structural EngineerAddress 192 West 9th Street, Suite 200City, State or Province, Country St. Paul, MN 55102, USAPhone 651-292-3115

Other Firm:Project RoleProject ContactTitleAddressCity, State or Province, CountryPhone

Construction Firm: Kinghorn ConstructionProject Role General ContractorProject Contact John KinghornTitle Project ManagerAddress 14198 Northdale BoulevardCity, State or Province, Country Rogers, MN 55374Phone 763-428-8088

http://intranet.cuningham.com/Tools/Contacts/?Company=287

Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture 2010 Project Details

Project Name Legacy Christian Academy

City Ramsey

State Minnesota

District Name NA

Supt/President Dean Erickson

Occupancy Date Fall 2012

Grades Housed K-12

Capacity(Students) 800

Site Size (acres) 185 AC

Gross Area (sq. ft.) 128,233 sf

Per Occupant(pupil) 160 sf

gross/net please indicate

Design and Build? no

If yes, Total Cost:

Includes:

If no,

Site Development: 2 ,410,100

Building Construction: 18,183,000

Fixed Equipment: 765,700

Other:

Total: 2 1,358,800

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Legacy Christian Academy

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