Mountain Valley School District’s new PK-12 is a true testament to collaboration. From the beginning we knew this project would have a huge impact on the Saguache, Colorado community and took steps to integrate the students, staff and community as much as possible into the design. The result is a school that not only serves the students that learn there, but it functions as a community center for the entire town of Saguache.

The purpose of the new facility is to provide all students with spaces, technology and resources with 21st century learning infrastructure. Remote locations like Saguache tend to lack top notch educational support but a geographic location should not hinder a student’s education. The new contextual yet high tech facility allows all students in the town of Saguache with the appropriate resources to learn.

The new 71,900 SF facility features a flexible media center, grade-based team centers (elementary, middle school and high school), cafeteria/commons, collaboration spaces, and a history corridor where historic Saguache and Mountain Valley memorabilia are on display. Pre-K, elementary, middle school, and high school zones are connected by a central media center which was nick-named the “heart” of the building during the design process.  The basic concept of this communal space is that it is a shared space for everyone, but each zone also has a separate team center and faculty work room to allow for independent areas within the building.

All spaces in the new facility were appropriately sized for the small town of Saguache but with the technology and infrastructure to carry the school into the future. Additionally, extra classrooms were designed into each department to accommodate expected growth.