If Ms. McAnelly gave everyone a sense of what it took from the school administrators role, we certainly got a vision of the role of the architect with Mr. Frank Amaro's tour and presentation. This is a case where the architect was in love with education and knew a lot about it and also in love with his work. You had to respect his integrity as described his role in managing the construction process from beginning to end. The experience was made even richer by the role that Debbie played and also Jeff who could tell the story from beginning to end. You were all treated by a sense of how a collaborative project is managed. The role of the relationship among all parties was critical...not just the educator or architect but the team approach to addressing and resolving issues from the planning at the outset, through construction, and eventually occupancy and closing out the project.
What impressed me most was the extent to which current educational philosophy of small communities in schools drove the design of the facility. When you see this in a facility, you know that architects are truly listening to the professionals. The Cardenas Center was another great example of this....the design of the two-way mirrors and reading pits as well as the original open design reflected a demonstration/teaching of teachers approach to education that was big in the 1970's.
What was touching was the connectedness that Lopez middle school still maintains with its namesake, Mr. Jose Lopez. What a treat to see the interview of this remarkably courageous man. Take the history, the planning, the educational philosophy, the architect-educator collaboration and you have one very special experience. Thanks Jeff and Debbie for your hospitality and access to school facility. Please respond with an aspect of your experience or observation at Jose Lopez Middle School that has not been mentioned previously by me or any of your colleagues who also took the tour.
This was a hard one for me because I already knew so many ins and outs of the school. I did learn a few things. I learned what they did after they found the cave under the school.
ReplyDeleteI also learned why they used split-faced CMU block in the hallways. It was used to cut down on the noise during the passing periods.
I liked how Frank was willing to come out on a Saturday and walk around with us on the tour and explain the building as we went. It is too bad you had to miss the tour Dr. H. , because the tour with him was better than the 20 min tour I gave you.
What a great facility! I was very impressed with Jeff's classroom. What an incredible way for students to get a taste of possible career opportunities.
ReplyDeleteFrank was a great addition to the tour. Hearing his prespective of the architectural side of planning for a true learning environment was very enlightening. Thanks Debbie and Jeff for all your hospitality.
I was very grateful that Frank took a morning out of his weekend to share his expertise with us. He emailed me the following week to get Dr. Herrington's contact information to provide his services to him in future facility classes. He truly has a passion for what he does.
ReplyDeleteAs I stated the morning of the visit, I have witnessed some administrators that made the mistake of perceiving their relationship with contractors/architects as an "us and them" relationship. In this situation, no one wins. Although not all contractors have the best interest of the school/district in mind, most do and want to do a good job. It takes the collaboration of all parties involved to achieve a facility that meets the needs of the education community. This has been evident when touring the three campuses we have visited.
Awesome!!! What an amazing facility, the attention to details in this building is phenomenal. The trim above the lockers was a nice touch to raise the level of how good lockers can look up a notch. I also liked how they did the retro style windows in the gym that looked about like ours before they were removed. Frank did a great job giving insight to various parts of the building. Thanks to Debbie and Jeff for the great day and sharing the secrets of the cave.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing facility! Kudos to NEISD and their architect for building an impressive building and using building designs and products that maintain both function and economics. Thank you Jeff and Debbie for sharing this experience with us. I like that there are so many fabulous opportunities for the students at your campus. It is obvious that the committee did their homework and built a facility that serves many diverse interests and needs.
ReplyDeleteJeff you did a good job on my personal tour. I appreciated it very much. I regret having missed Mr. Amaro's tour as well. It seemed to be a day honoring our military heroes. Mr. Amaro's father we learned had been a silver star medal recipient. He was very touched by the video on Mr. Jose Lopez. My friend Dr. Ernie Perez, a great F105 pilot in Viet Nam lost his wife recently and I thank you for letting me be with him during part of the day. Thank you Debbie and Jeff for doing such a great job. dh
ReplyDeleteThe aesthetics and function of the school were obvious outcome of a meticulous planning process. I was impressed at the detail and the commitment to the design of the building. The design of the building incorporated ideas gathered from visits to other schools. It was impressive to that the architect and school officials valued the planning process to this extent(site visits).
ReplyDeleteI am still in awe of Lopez MS, telling friends and colleagues about it all the time! I appreciate that Frank was there to answer some questions from a facility-planning point of view, but I also really valued the insight that Jeff and Debbie brought to the table. They live with the building each day, and have a good working understanding about its daily functions.
ReplyDeleteI could go on and on about how beautiful and functional the building is, but then I might start to cry! If you were to compare Lopez MS to the facility that my students come to everyday, you would immediately notice the dark chasm of inequity. While admin is supposed to look past aesthetics and on to curriculum and instruction, we all know that your surroundings and environment can have a profound effect on your success. Something to think about when comparing the haves and have-nots....
Having experienced going through a building construction project for the past 3 years, I certainly could appreciate all of the work "behind the scenes" that was required to produce such an appealing facility. Since our visit, I have spent time thinking about the design which incorporated "houses" each having couns/admin offices and "collaborative learning centers". One of the greatest challenges we experienced during the design phase of or HS renovation project was to decide whether the building design will cater to any educational "fads". Because the building will be used for decades to come, this decision was not taken lightly. We visited Steele HS during the design phase for our HS renovation because their building was designed to cater to the small learning community model, which ECHS has incorporated for the past 7 years. Like Lopez, Steele HS has "houses" throughout the building each having offices for couns/admin, shared teaching areas, and conference rooms. By the end of their second year however, they had moved away from the scripted model of small learning communities and have struggled to centralize their counseling and administrative areas since. I remember the office with the scenic view at Lopez that was originally designed for one purpose but was being used for another. I have learned that there is a delicate balance between targeted/specific design and adaptable design. I have also learned that with a tight budget, form usually gives way to function. Overall, I appreciated Frank's perspective as the architect and really admired the beauty and cleanliness of the school.
ReplyDeleteJose Lopez Middle School is truly an amazing educational facility. It showed that this school had a great working relationship with Mr. Amaro, and it showed that he cared a lot about this facility since he was willing to give up his Saturday morning to spend with us. It was great to hear the perspective of educational facility planning from the actual architect. Seeing Jeff’s class was awesome. I have gone to school with him for 3 years now and I never truly got the picture of what he actually did until this visit. It is an amazing opportunity for students in middle school to get this type of education.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the detailed response Roland.
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