Evergreen High School, San Jose, Calif., wanted to divide its 1,800-person student body into four separate academies and make the 10-acre campus a place for the entire community to enjoy.
These goals were achieved through a campus approach to the design — by creating an intentional interface between the public and private spaces.
The design incorporated four separate academies — each with its own principal and teachers, two gyms, a library, city-sponsored childcare, a theater and a multipurpose room. Small breakout rooms are available for study groups, and student and faculty meetings.
Academic buildings are situated around a central quad, which provides a secure and comfortable outdoor environment. An athletic plaza with soccer, baseball, football and track fields, as well as an aquatic center, surrounds a second, more public quad. The campus also includes a courtyard, which is situated adjacent to the performing-arts building and also is available for community events.
The school features an on-site childcare facility, and its athletic complex supports league and recreational play for outside groups. In addition, the hills on the site's east side were positioned as a separate parcel and sold to a developer to provide affordable housing for teachers and other staff in the district.
The architect for this project is The Steinberg Group (San Jose, Calif.).
