Sacramento college-prep high school students (grades 9-12) attended their first day of classes at the George Washington Carver School of Arts and Science, the newest addition to the Sacramento Unified School District (SCUSD), located at 10101 Systems Parkway, on February 19, 2008. The 45,808-square-foot, eight-building charter school facility is situated on 13 acres and serves a maximum of 500 students. Constructed by McCarthy, the high school represents a mounting trend to revitalize small public high schools in the region. The facility was developed by Regent Development, Inc. and designed by HMR Architects.
“This school was built to serve a critical function to Sacramento’s dedicated and college-bound student body,” said Rick Jennings, school board member and chairman of the facilities committee, SCUSD. “It was designed with the highest educational mission in mind – to accelerate our students’ learning experience and improve academic achievement. Regent, McCarthy and HMR delivered a facility that exceeded our expectations.”
The goal of George Washington Carver School of Arts and Science is to provide a supportive learning environment designed to resemble that of a college or university, which addresses the needs of young people, empowering them to interact with each other and to take responsibility for their learning experience. This unique complex, complete with exterior brick work, barrel roofs, intricate wood framing, and decorative facades and canopies, features a campus-style design. The main focal point of the school is a small central corridor complete with an exterior amphitheater that will serve as a gathering area for students and faculty. The facility caters to the highest of academic amenities, such as laboratory facilities equipped to handle complicated experiments and a specialty computer lab, which will foster a curriculum that teaches students how to build technology. Other features include 20 classrooms, administrative and multipurpose buildings, a fully functioning cafeteria, and a library, as well as athletic fields.
“We are proud to have built this incredible learning facility for the Sacramento Unified School District,” said Project Director Doug Barrows for McCarthy. “This is one of the most architecturally unique schools we’ve built, transforming the traditional school ’box’ model. The modern design elements extend beyond the façade to the classroom creating a supportive learning environment that resembles a higher education facility. We are pleased to have been a part of this innovative project on behalf of the school district.”
George Washington Carver School of Arts and Science is the sixth of seven planned high schools to be constructed in the Sacramento area as a result of a high school reform plan launched by SCUSD to reform the region’s schools. The plan pledged to create a number of new high schools to provide more options for local families, to reduce crowding at existing high schools and to ultimately provide a productive learning environment to minimize the drop out rate. This effort was fueled in large part by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which provided funding for new small high schools across the country, as well as dollars generated from Measure I. Passed by voters in 2002, the measure earmarked $225 million in bonds to upgrade existing campuses and build new high schools.
About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has been building in the education market for more than 50 years. Committed to the construction of high performance buildings, the employee owned company has managed construction or built more than 400 K-12 school projects nationwide. In addition to Sacramento and San Francisco, McCarthy has offices in Newport Beach and San Diego, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Dallas; St. Louis and Atlanta. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.
