With bulldozers rolling in the distance, Escondido Union High School District officials on Friday held a ground-breaking ceremony for Del Lago Academy, the magnet biotech high school slated to open in fall 2013.
"San Diego is one of the meccas for biotechnology, not only in California, but in the nation," district Superintendent Ed Nelson told school and construction officials at the event. "We believe our kids should be the workforce of the future."
He congratulated voters of Escondido, who he said "took real risk, and showed great support," by passing Proposition T, the $98 million 2008 bond measure that is funding the new high school, along with improvements to existing campuses.
The school, on 23 to 24 acres of a 34-acre site off West Valley Parkway near Citracado Parkway, will accommodate up to 800 students, in response to parents' request for a smaller high school option, Nelson said.
Two-story structures will house medical and biotech laboratories, classrooms, a lecture hall, fitness room, auditorium and media center designed to create a high school environment similar to a college campus or workplace, said project architect Scott Moreland of Baker Nowicki Design Studio.
Laboratories will contain movable equipment and furniture that can adapt to changing technology, while a lecture hall will provide a platform for teachers, professors and even students to make presentations, he said.
Rooftop solar panels and other design features will make the campus 35 percent more efficient than the building code requires, Moreland said.
He said the efficiency improvements, along with the use of recycled materials, synthetic turf and storm water reduction techniques, will help the school meet standards set by the Collaborative for High Performance Schools, a green building rating program for K-12 schools. The program sets design standards aimed at making schools more environmentally sound and educationally functional.
The campus will follow the hilly topography and include a central area oriented toward the west, Moreland said. Nelson said the placement reinforces the school's health and science focus.
"It's not by happenstance that our campus looks out on the new hospital," he said.
Principal Keith Nuthall said the school aims to solve societal problems of "fueling the world, feeding the world, healing the world and restoring and protecting the ecosystem."
It will employ an integrated curriculum where lessons in science, math, English and other subjects overlap and reinforce one another, he said.
For instance, a student might learn to operate an electrocardiograph, analyze those measurements in a science lesson on heart function, write about the project, and then apply the findings to physical education activities for heart health.
"We're blending challenging academic content with a demanding technical education and field-based work," Nuthall said.
Board member Kurt Marler said the school will aim to attract students and families seeking an alternative to large, traditional high schools.
"We'd like the enrollment to be a draw to all charter schools and all home schools," Marler said.
Nuthall said that while the school won't expect all students to enter college and professional careers in science or medicine, the science literacy it will promote should benefit them in a wide range of occupations.
"My approach is that Del Lago students will read, write, think and behave like scientists, historians, artists and mathematicians," he said.
"San Diego is one of the meccas for biotechnology, not only in California, but in the nation," district Superintendent Ed Nelson told school and construction officials at the event. "We believe our kids should be the workforce of the future."
He congratulated voters of Escondido, who he said "took real risk, and showed great support," by passing Proposition T, the $98 million 2008 bond measure that is funding the new high school, along with improvements to existing campuses.
The school, on 23 to 24 acres of a 34-acre site off West Valley Parkway near Citracado Parkway, will accommodate up to 800 students, in response to parents' request for a smaller high school option, Nelson said.
Two-story structures will house medical and biotech laboratories, classrooms, a lecture hall, fitness room, auditorium and media center designed to create a high school environment similar to a college campus or workplace, said project architect Scott Moreland of Baker Nowicki Design Studio.
Laboratories will contain movable equipment and furniture that can adapt to changing technology, while a lecture hall will provide a platform for teachers, professors and even students to make presentations, he said.
Rooftop solar panels and other design features will make the campus 35 percent more efficient than the building code requires, Moreland said.
He said the efficiency improvements, along with the use of recycled materials, synthetic turf and storm water reduction techniques, will help the school meet standards set by the Collaborative for High Performance Schools, a green building rating program for K-12 schools. The program sets design standards aimed at making schools more environmentally sound and educationally functional.
The campus will follow the hilly topography and include a central area oriented toward the west, Moreland said. Nelson said the placement reinforces the school's health and science focus.
"It's not by happenstance that our campus looks out on the new hospital," he said.
Principal Keith Nuthall said the school aims to solve societal problems of "fueling the world, feeding the world, healing the world and restoring and protecting the ecosystem."
It will employ an integrated curriculum where lessons in science, math, English and other subjects overlap and reinforce one another, he said.
For instance, a student might learn to operate an electrocardiograph, analyze those measurements in a science lesson on heart function, write about the project, and then apply the findings to physical education activities for heart health.
"We're blending challenging academic content with a demanding technical education and field-based work," Nuthall said.
Board member Kurt Marler said the school will aim to attract students and families seeking an alternative to large, traditional high schools.
"We'd like the enrollment to be a draw to all charter schools and all home schools," Marler said.
Nuthall said that while the school won't expect all students to enter college and professional careers in science or medicine, the science literacy it will promote should benefit them in a wide range of occupations.
"My approach is that Del Lago students will read, write, think and behave like scientists, historians, artists and mathematicians," he said.
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