Dallas Independent School District
Dallas, Texas
Dallas ISD’s Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate Academy is an early college high school specifically tailored to prepare primarily first generation college students for academic success in college and beyond.
Along with SHW Group, our firm designed the 110,000 SF facility as a series of academic and social spaces centered around a common area, giving the facility the feel of a multiple-building campus, similar to a college, while keeping the students in a secure environment.
Instead of traditional “home rooms,” faculty offices are located in a “perch,” which is a large, cubic space suspended on the second floor from which faculty can view the various academic spaces.
The facility provides varied academic and social experiences for 9th-10th and 11th-12th grade students. Higher grade levels are housed on the first floor, allowing for more freedom and unstructured time. The lower grade levels are on the second floor, providing a more structured, controlled environment and a more formal learning environment and closer proximity to teachers. Multiple spaces for informal learning are incorporated throughout the building to assert the importance of planning unstructured time.