Designing for Multi-Level Governance and New Educational Partnerships

AIA Continuing Education Provider

PENDING

Date/Time: November 1, 2025 | 10:45 – 11:45 am

Room: 160-161

Room Sponsor: Artcobell

Audience: Architects, Engineers, Educators, Facility Personnel, Contractors / Suppliers / Manufacturers, Consultants

Artcobell

Call to Action:
Can “design by committee” truly work? It has to. This project’s governance model is designed to feed all voices, input, and opinions directly into experiential outcomes for a new building. The new Health Science High School in Aurora, Colorado harnesses a diverse set of voices through a multi-level governance structure to guide all stakeholders input in a swift, precise, and actionable manner to deliver a new secondary education facility that aims to close skill-gaps in the health care industry, fortify the local economy, and bring prosperous outcomes to students across the district. Here are three action takeaways for attendees:

  1. Research and identify regional workforce needs, and growth of career sectors.
  2. Understand and create partnership timeline with community colleges, universities, healthcare and industry partners.
  3. Create a governance structure to ensure the right voices are present to guide the programming, implementation, and design of facilities that close the skills gap pipeline.
  4. Review how to develop a decision matrix.
  5. Adapt a typical building design process and toolkit to respond to educational programming processes, governance guidelines, community needs, site conditions and education delivery.

Abstract: We know skills-based career education offers an array of on- and off-ramps for students to customize a career suited to their individual power. Harnessing student, parent, community, and employer interests that live in those intersections has the power to propel our communities into more prosperous futures. Finding those intersections is the challenge, and the opportunity. How can districts and designers organize and harness new models of engagement to create building programs for their communities? The Health Science High School at Aurora Public Schools hopes to fill a workforce gap in a flourishing industry with intense skills needs: Healthcare. After proposing and passing a new bond initiative in 2024, Aurora Public Schools seeks to develop a high school with 5 distinct yet interconnected healthcare pathways in collaboration with health systems and community college partners that brings together educators, planners, facilities, designers, and the community in a Governance Structure that will guide the programming, education, space design and outcomes of students in Aurora, Colorado. This process model can be used as a guide for other communities who are looking to grow or expand their education offerings into swift action and response, fortifying their districts and communities.

Learning Objectives:

  1. How to identify and harness community partners to galvanize needs and interest with data.
  2. Create the ability for all voices to be heard through a multi-level governance organization that provides input, voices, subject matter experts, and guidance to facility planning.
  3. Fortify space and infrastructural needs to develop building program by codifying spatial needs for skills-based educational models.
  4. Develop a building design toolkit that adapts and responds to governance, community needs, and education delivery, and site conditions.

Core Competency

Educational Visioning
Facilitating the translation of educational goals / vision into school design requirements.

Marianne Sammons
Marianne Sammons
Strategic Development Advisor, Aurora Public Schools

Marianne is the Strategic Development Advisor for Aurora Public Schools, where she leads the long-term educational and facilities plan and supports district-wide systems development. Marianne has over 20 years of experience in K-12 urban education. She is passionate about the role of public education in advancing equity and disrupting systemic educational barriers for historically marginalized students and families. She lives in Denver, CO, with her husband and two sons.

Sumegha Shah, AIA, LEED AP BD+C
Sumegha Shah, AIA, LEED AP BD+C
Principal, Health Education Practice Leader, CannonDesign

Sumegha is a Principal at Cannon Design’s education practice, leading the firm’s health education market. She brings over 18 years of global insights into K-12 and higher education, particularly the needs of cutting-edge medical and health science facilities, translating project vision into design solutions. Shah guides the development of learning environments for future professionals, integrating technology enhancements and fostering interdisciplinary and inter-professional education, community impact, and cultural collaboration.

Michael Kmak, AIA, NCARB
Michael Kmak, AIA, NCARB
Principal, Health Education Practice Leader, CannonDesign

As a Design Leader with CannonDesign, Michael is an architect focused on the complexities of daily life intersected with patterns of the urban condition, which he believes create new formulas for designing our future. He views his 20-year career as a crash-course in real world design solutions meeting big ideas and is persistently thinking about how design can positively change our social and cultural environments for an equitable and diverse future.

Noel Schmidt
Noel Schmidt
Superintendent, Rock Ridge Public Schools

Noel is the superintendent of the newly consolidated Rock Ridge Public Schools District. Over his career, he has observed and participated in many school reform efforts, most of which failed spectacularly. However, the latest one, the merger of the Eveleth-Gilbert and Virginia school district and the community's decision to cooperatively build a new high school and two elementary schools, has been a spectacular success.

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