West High school |
Romig Middle School |
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“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)
- use ASD's comment box to send us your thoughts and input
- 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
Comment
Use ASD's comment box to send us your thoughts and input.
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Have questions?
Where are my kids going to school while they renovate?
When will West High and Romig Middle schools be renewed (construction complete)?
What is a Master Plan?
Find answers to these common questions and many more on the FAQ page.
 Status report
June 14, 2010
The Master Plan was approved by the Anchorage School Board. See ASD Memorandum # 350 (PDF) and supplemental documents from the June 14 meeting.
June 7, 2010
A Master Plan presentation was given to the Anchorage School Board on June 7. School staff provided a presentation (PDF), the Master Plan (PDF) and Master Plan references (PDF).
March - April, 2010
Master Plan - At a March 29 workshop, the West-Romig Planning Committee met with the Fanning-Howey Design Team to review and select the best features offered by four master plan design concepts (A-D). The Design Team then integrated those collected preferences into a new master plan, Concept E.
The Master Plan Concept was presented and reviewed in a second workshop with the Planning Committee on April 1. The committee received the new Master Plan Concept favorably and contributed additional suggestions for improvements for the Design Team to consider. Members of the public attended a presentation forum that evening and offered further comments and suggestions.
The Design Team is currently incorporating many of the recommendations into the Master Plan Concept.
March 8, 2010
Learning Plan - On December 16, 2010, the West-Romig Planning Committee, facilitated by Dr. George Copa, completed a Learning Plan for the West-Romig campus. Volunteers dedicated more than 1,500 hours to produce this plan. The Learning Plan defines West-Romig campus’ education mission and goals to be a center of community in 21st century education. It also links the Pre-Planning Vision Report with the Master Plan. The Anchorage School Board received the Learning Plan at its January 25, 2010 meeting. With individual Board members expressing positive support, the Learning Plan is now being used to focus and shape the master planning of West-Romig campus’ facilities and programs. The Master Plan is anticipated to be delivered to the Anchorage School Board for its review and approval in mid-June 2010.
Near Term Implementation List - Obtaining funds to redevelop the physical West-Romig campus will take time. The School District’s capital project funding requests weigh prioritized needs of all district facilities. Recognizing the probable time lapse, the School Board requested the West-Romig Redevelopment Steering Committee submit a list of changes that could be made in the near term. The resulting Near Term Implementation list sets up an initiative to translate the Learning Plan’s mission and goals into near term educational program changes. One of the initiative’s first steps is to establish a task force with the responsibility to complete near term items by the beginning of the 2011-2012 academic year. The School Board received the Near Term Implementations list on January 25, 2010. As with the Learning Plan, individual board members expressed their positive support of the implementations.
January 22, 2010
In October 2009, more than 50 representatives of the diverse West/Romig community formed a Planning Committee to develop a Learning Plan for the West/Romig campus. The planning team includes ASD administrators, West and Romig principals, teachers and students, parents, business members, community organizations and residents. Education consultant, Dr. George Copa, facilitated three Learning Plan work sessions to define the plan’s components: Learning Context, Learning Audience, Learning Signature, Learning Process, and Learning Organization. The resulting Learning Plan will guide and direct the Educational Framework for the West/Romig Master Plan.
Read previous status reports on the Archives page » |
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