Date / Time: November 1, 2025 | 9:00 am – 10:30 am

Room: 164-165

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

Call to Action: Leave the session with an understanding of how the impact of place can elevate a design solution, considering all elements of a site to the natural beauty of the surroundings. They’ll also hear new and proven ideas to achieve resilient, high-performing schools in any environment.

Abstract: A unique culture and context, a unique story and certainly a unique PreK-12 program for a maximum of 550 students on St. John, USVI that turns challenges to opportunities while also leveraging unique funding streams that are centered on resilience. The site is located at 18°20′N 64°44′W with approximately 4,000 residents located on this 20 square mile island. The United Sates Virgin Islands is leveraging the unique opportunities afforded by FEMA funding for prudent replacement of public buildings post Maria/Irma with a vision to transform. Through the development of Vision 2040, the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority (USVIEDA) in the spirit of collaboration, led a Task Force of government officials and agencies, local non-profits, and stakeholders was assembled to oversee the vision. Vision 2040 will reinforce New Horizon for Learning Environments. Join us to hear the journey of discovery, planning and design that resulted in the transformation of the US Virgin Islands School District with a particular focus on the Julius E. Sprauve PreK-12. Based on all of the unique requirements for resiliency, Sprauve is seeking Living Building Challenge certification. We will be presenting how the vision for education in this special place that requires a robust approach to resilience aligns with the four core foci that and their related imperatives of place, education + inspiration, beauty + biophilia, and water + energy.

Learning Objectives:

1. Hear the impact of place during this session. The site slopes over 130 feet from the northern most location of the building to the low point adjacent to Highway 10 on the south side of the site. This large change in elevation led to the creation of a series of bridges and connections across the site to make the site and program accessible connecting the various buildings and their respective teaching and learning opportunities, always considering the views both internal and external of the site.
2. Understand the team’s unique approach to curriculum that combines core academics and career and technical education within the parameter set by the National Parks Service’s MOU for a historic land swap that provided the land for a new school.
3. Explore the new Sprauve PK-12 campus that combines a light building footprint, resiliency, and innovative building systems to create a flexible and forward-thinking learning environment for the students, faculty, and St. John community. Working with the site’s steep topography, the building is designed to grow from the earth (Grotto) to the sky (Altana) with various opportunities for discovery along the journey.
4. Discover the requirements for working building systems and how they informed the design of this LBC building. Net positive energy systems will feature a combination of high-performance building systems, including both active and passive strategies. Everything from water collection and treatment for potable water, waste treatment on site, ventilation and air conditioning systems which were designed to be energy efficient. In addition, the PV panels are provided to allow 100% on site generation of the school’s power needs with batteries and battery storage infrastructure to allow continuous operation of school when power from PV panels is not available.