WestValleyView.com
JULY 17, 2019
/WestValleyView
West Point High School boasts innovative features BY OCTAVIO SERRANO
West Valley View Staff Writer
West Point High School in Avondale is getting ready to open the doors to phase one and welcome 1,200 freshmen and sophomores. Incoming Principal Brandi Haskins is impressed by the innovative high school’s enhanced safety and educational features. “What I’m most excited about is for our students to come onto campus and see the learning environment that has been created for them,” Haskins said. “I think they’re going to feel like young women and young men coming onto campus to learn.” Officials broke ground for the 190,000-square-feet first phase in September at 11620 W. Encanto Boulevard. Phase two, about 70,000 square feet, should be completed by December, with the remaining portion wrapping up in May. The $109 million project will be 310,000 square feet. Ben Barcon, co-owner of ADM Group, the project’s architectural firm, said the size was needed for the number of students. “You have a campus with eventually 2,900 students milling around, so you need a lot of acreage and this one happens to be 69 acres,” Barcon said. The school features innovative architecture, complemented by a technology-friendly environment and security. Its new staff is excited to become part of the campus. Haskins has been with the Tolleson Union High School District for 28 years. The former principal of Westview and La Joya Community high schools said there is a need for a new campus. “The Tolleson Union High School District has been growing tremendously,” Haskins said. “The West Valley is still growing, and we definitely needed it in our district to make sure we have space for all of our students, so they have the opportunity to learn at their highest levels.”
For its first year, West Point will host 1,200 freshmen and sophomores. The school will eventually reach its full capacity of 2,900 students. This campus will include gymnasiums, a performing arts center, an innovation center/library and more than 14 science lab centers. Barcon said the innovation center is especially striking. “We’ve done it in such a way that it’s flexible,” Barcon said. “All the book racks are on wheels and we have a storage room for them. The innovation center can become a lecture hall. It could become a meeting space. It could become a fab lab or a number of things. So, flexibility of design for the future is really what it’s all about.” The courtyard, which Barcon referred to as a quad, is a welcoming space with four seating areas. Students can gather on concrete seats, and the space, which will accommodate 2,900 students, will have Wi-Fi and charging stations. Barcon said the cafeteria was designed to look like a “memorial union at a college,” with soft-seating booths, high-top tables and counters. “The outside areas have a concession stand for those who don’t want to go inside,” Barcon said. “They can walk over to the window and order a sandwich or a hot dog, and then sit outside.” Barcon and his team put a lot of thought into the school’s security and created a safe design for the campus Barcon described the building as a colosseum circular design with a common courtyard, making it easier for staff to supervise students. The administration office building has large one-way windows that look out onto the courtyard. “The glass on the outside looking in is dark, but the inside looking out is clear, which gives them a heck of a way to supervise these kids,” Barcon said. The windows are found in the classrooms as well. Balconies overlooking the courtyard are an added security feature. “Anybody from administration or se-
Construction is coming along at West Point High School, as shown by these drone photographs. (Photo courtesy Tolleson Union High
West Point High School 11620 W. Encanto Boulevard, Avondale 623-478-4014
School District)
curity can be on that second-floor balcony looking down on the courtyard to supervise those kids,” Barcon said. In case the school needs to go into lockdown, the campus has three layers of security, he said. “One is the outside perimeter fence around the entire campus, and we have a second perimeter fence from building to building,” Barcon said. “Any visitors have to go to the front lobby, which has bullet-resistant glass. They’ll have to be screened and allowed in through a side door into the campus.” The classrooms are innovative as well. The walls serve as whiteboards, thanks to a new type of paint. Completing a project of this size was
not easy, Barcon said. His team developed more than 800 documents and sheets of drawing in 90 days and managed to get a permit within 45 days. “If it weren’t for our designers, our architects, our 3-D model people and our CAD people who put it on the computer, it would never have gotten done,” Barcon said. “It’s a real team effort.” Haskins foresees interactions with Luke Air Force Base. “In any community, you’re always looking for ways the school can work with the community and learn from practitioners in the field,” Haskins said. “We’re really lucky to have Luke Air Force Base as such a strong part of the community.”
Fast facts about West Point High School • The West Point High School Dragons’ colors are black and red. • The new school is set to open with only grades nine and 10. In 2020-2021, the school will accommodate freshmen, sophomores and juniors (grades nine, 10 and 11). In 2021-2022, West Point High School will have its first graduating class serving freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors (grades nine, 10, 11 and 12). • Tolleson Union High School District is partnering with Luke Air Force Base to provide an academy with rigorous and challenging curriculum with an emphasis on STEM. • About $48 million of the project’s funding came from the Arizona School Facilities Board. Another nearly $7 million is from adjacent ways. A voter-approved bond authorized over $53 million. The full project has a guaranteed maximum price of over $108 million.