“School as a Center of Community” concept emerges in planning for West High and Romig Middle schools’ renewal
West High School was originally built in 1953; Romig Middle School in 1963. Since then, each facility has had various additions and renovations. The most recent were completed in the 1990s before districtwide educational specifications for high schools and middle schools were developed to establish standards of parity. For years, West High School was “Anchorage High School”. Its 1,845-seat auditorium served as Anchorage’s major venue for performing arts. More than an educational facility, it was Anchorage’s community center. Residents of the area served by West High and Romig Middle Schools have expressed a desire for the facilities and their campus to be revived through the “School as a Center of Community” concept. It is a de facto recognition of this role that more than 60 community groups presently use the campus on a regular basis.
Residents have expressed a desire for the facilities and their campus to be revived through the “School as a Center of Community” concept.
Fanning/Howey Associates, Inc., a nationally-recognized planning firm, facilitated development of a vision for the campus as “School as a Center of Community” and its relationship to a 21st Century schools education delivery philosophy. This Pre-planning Vision Report was presented to the school board in March 2008. They then held a work session in August to discuss the vision. The work session resulted in setting parameters for master planning and encouraged exploration of some options offered by the visioning effort. Essential qualities of the vision are relevance of education and flexibility. These have been guiding the master planning goal to renew and extend the facilities’ functional life another 50 years.
This project is funded by district funds obtained through legislative grants and interest earnings.
The planning process
The charts below illustrate the planning process. The chart on the left shows the overall project development process. The more detailed chart on the right shows tasks and objectives of the current master planning effort. Descriptions of each development process step can be accessed by clicking on “enlarged view”.
Results of the 2008 “Visioning” project are summarized in the “Pre-Planning Vision Report” (PDF). The project is now in the “Master Planning” stage. Fanning/Howey Associates’ planning team completed preliminary facility assessments and carried out initial site studies in March 2009. These studies included an intense two-day workshop to brainstorm possible layouts. In April 2009, the Municipality and School District signed a Joint Memorandum of Understanding to support planning for the concept of “schools as center of community” that support 21st century education. In the fall 2009, Dr. George Copa, education consultant, facilitated the Planning Team’s efforts to develop a “Learning Plan” (PDF) to link the Pre-Planning Vision Report to the campus master plan. With completion of the Learning Plan, planning consultants are now meeting with focus groups to provide information that will be used to develop the master plan. Workshops to be held in March and April 2010 will establish master plan options and refine the selected solution. Fanning/Howey ‘s team and the project’s Steering Committee are providing a progress report to the School Board on January 25. They will also suggest near term measures that could be implemented before the 2011-12 school year.
Residents attended a public forum or “charrette” on March 17 – 18, 2009, to respond to the West-Romig Pre-planning Vision Report and offer input.
Get involved
See the public/student involvement page to read more about public and student participation in this project.
We encourage the public to:
* attend public forums (future dates will be posted here)
* share thoughts by sending e-mail to westromig@risealaska.com
* volunteer to participate in focus groups that include your particular interest
* check the project Web site at
www.asdk12.org/renewal/HS/west_romig for updates
