Like many districts across the country, Tacoma Public Schools has experienced declining graduation rates, hitting a low in 2010 at 55 percent matriculation. The district recognized that to accept the challenge for their schools to be an agent for serious change, work must happen that touches on deeper levels by rethinking the concept of school itself, empowering community partners and establishing a positive culture.
Arlington is a case study of what can happen in school design when you explore the spatial possibilities that emerge when a community sets out to totally rethink the basic assumptions behind traditional elementary schools in order to build a culture that wraps around kids. This culture allows them to learn all day, every day, and throughout the year in environments where learners are continuously challenged, relentlessly supported, and engaged in a way that is both safe and healthy. To understand the context of this community in need, the team embraced a collaborative, immersive approach with broad user engagement. By drawing on individual strengths of all participants, the community of practice surrounding the Arlington Elementary School project has kindled innovation from initiation into completion.
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“Arlington really reimagined how we see the school space and the context of a community. And as an equity trainer I talk all the time that school happens in context. School doesn’t happen independent of a community. I think Arlington really imagines that in a powerful way.”
― Erin Jones, Juror, A4LE Washington State Chapter Awards
Green Schoolyards America
