Half Day Tour C

8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Buses load at the Sheraton

11:45 AM – 4:00 PM
Buses load at the Convention Center

Learning Objectives:

Evaluate Strategies for Modernizing Historic Campuses While Preserving Institutional Identity. Analyze how phased renovations and strategic design interventions—such as the creation of a central esplanade and adaptive reuse of legacy buildings—can honor a school’s historical roots while aligning with contemporary educational practices.

Explore How Embedded CTE Facilities Support Workforce Readiness Through Real-World Design. Assess how design elements of the West-MEC Career Academy—such as material choice, visibility of learning, and program-specific spaces—mirror industry environments, enhancing hands-on learning and career preparation on a comprehensive high school campus.

Understand the Role of Indoor-Outdoor Integration in Creating Engaging Learning Environments. Examine how open-concept structures, outdoor terraces, and connected academic/social spaces promote flexibility, wellness, and collaboration within high school settings.

Investigate Innovative Project Delivery Methods in Educational Architecture. Explore how strategies such as phased permitting, early city coordination, and embedded district collaboration can accelerate project timelines, optimize budgets, and enable on-time delivery of complex educational facilities.

Agua Fria High School

530 E Riley Dr, Avondale, AZ 85323

Agua Fria High School is a public high school serving grades 9–12 in Avondale, Arizona. Established in 1956, it was the first high school in the Agua Fria Union High School District and remains one of its cornerstone institutions. Originally located in Litchfield Park, the school moved to its current location at 530 E. Riley Drive and was named after the nearby Agua Fria River. Today, it serves a diverse student body of approximately 1,600 students and continues to reflect its motto: “Honor First, Win or Lose.” The campus is home to a broad range of academic and extracurricular programs, including 13 Advanced Placement (AP) courses, a Construction Pathway, Entrepreneurial Academy, and a respected Air Force JROTC program. The school is proud of its culturally diverse student body, and is dedicated to providing equitable educational opportunities for all learners. The school boasts a strong graduation rate and has received national recognition, including being named a Blue Ribbon School in the past.

In recent years, Agua Fria High School underwent an extensive multi-phase renovation to modernize its aging infrastructure and align the campus with 21st-century learning standards. The first phase, completed in 2020, focused on updating three existing buildings originally constructed between 1957 and 1999, transforming them into flexible, collaborative learning environments. The second phase, completed in 2023, replaced outdated classroom wings with modern, open-concept structures that feature seamless indoor–outdoor integration, including stepped outdoor terraces and accessible learning labs. Central to the redesign is a newly created esplanade that functions as a vibrant campus hub, connecting the school’s academic and social spaces. These renovations were part of a district-wide modernization plan, supported by a $138 million bond passed in 2024 and a broader $197 million bond initiative approved in 2023. These investments also funded additional upgrades such as new security systems, technology improvements, and infrastructure repairs across the district. The result is a transformed Agua Fria campus that balances the school’s historic legacy with an eye toward the future, providing students with innovative spaces designed to support collaboration, engagement, and success.

Project Team:
Architect: DLR Group
Contractor: Chasse Building Team

Quick Facts:
Grades: 9-12 Renovations and Additions
Year Completed: 2020 (Phase 1)
Year Completed: 2022 (Phase 2)
Year Completed: 2025 (Phase 3)

West-MEC Career Academy at Agua Fria

Construction is ongoing; expected completion July 2025

West MEC’s new Career Academy at Agua Fria is a pilot CTE campus embedded directly on the Agua Fria High School site, giving students quick, walk-up access to advanced career programs. The compact collection of straightforward box-buildings is visually tied together by West MEC’s signature bright-orange metal panels and bold entry canopies, while above-grade retention basins double as Sonoran-Desert gardens—stormwater management that looks like landscaping. Materials scale with student touch: specialty cast concrete appears where students gather, ground-face CMU marks doorways, and utilitarian grey block stays in back-of-house zones. Inside, polished concrete floors with painted graphics, expansive glass walls, and sector-specific murals create a refined-industrial vibe that lets passers-by see learning in action. If the concept proves successful, identical academies are slated for rollout across the 15-district West MEC network. (fun fact: phased permitting let labs open while finishing work continued, shaving months off the schedule).

From a process standpoint, the project shows how early city collaboration, staggered permits, and tight district partnerships can compress timelines and stretch budgets. It also illustrates West MEC’s commitment to “professionalizing” CTE: students interact with real-world tools in spaces designed to feel like the industries they’re preparing to enter, making the academy both a learning environment and a working prototype for future sites.

Project Team:
Current Programs: Automotive, Construction Trades
Facilities: Lab and classrooms
Students: High school
Governance: District office at 623.738.0022 or info@west-mec.org or Dr. Spurgeon at 314.971.8372

LearningSCAPES 2025 Conference in Phoenix, Arizona

Venue

Phoenix Convention Center
South Building
100 North Third Street
Phoenix, AZ 85004

Dates

October 29-November 1, 2025

Contact

Email: donna@a4le.org
+1 480.391.0840