Through a collaborative process with the Sanford community, faculty, students, staff and the Maine DOE our team was able to create an integrated secondary school that enhances student experience and highlights learning opportunities out of increased student interest in Career and Technical Education.
Sanford High School & Technical Center is a 332,000 square foot facility that serves 21 communities. The facility is organized into four Career Pathways, each with its own identity, allowing students and teachers to craft a learning experience tailored to the student’s interests. Career Pathways, which operate as schools within the school, include Science and Technology; Business and Marketing; Arts and Communications; and Health and Human Services. Each pathway offers different Technical Labs, and different delivery methods to implement common curriculum like math, history, and literature. The design responds accordingly, offering different identities through color and display. The Pathways accommodate a range of learning styles via numerous differentiated instructional spaces. Corridors, designed with technology rich collaboration spaces, encourage small group and individual learning. This Pathway approach supports the curriculum, facilitates learning and socializing, and encourages student independence.
This school puts Career and Technical Education (CTE) on equal footing with traditional math, science, languages, and arts. For years, Career and Technical Education tracks have fought to be considered equal to college bound tracks. Today’s world teaches us that skills which are readily applicable to a career are extremely valuable. Truly successful people have a wide repertoire of skills and knowledge. To emphasize this, the design brought Career and Technical Center Labs out of the basement and into the light. These hands-on labs were integrated throughout the school, and even put on display within the traditional learning areas.
To learn more about Sanford High School & Technical Center click here.
