{"id":11058,"date":"2020-11-27T13:13:58","date_gmt":"2020-11-27T21:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=11058"},"modified":"2020-11-27T13:13:58","modified_gmt":"2020-11-27T21:13:58","slug":"laguna-blancas-new-center-for-science-and-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=11058","title":{"rendered":"Laguna Blanca’s New Center for Science and Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Schools<\/a>

Schools of Thought introduction, originally published in the November 19, 2020 issue of Santa Barbara Independent.<\/p><\/div>\n

Hope Ranch Campus\u00a0Provides Proper Home\u00a0for Project-Based Learning<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s all in the timing. Take Laguna Blanca<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0new Center for Science and Innovation, the school\u2019s\u00a0first major facility addition in at least 20 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u00a0decided to go forward with construction on March 11 of\u00a0this year, and two days later we were closing school because\u00a0of the pandemic,\u201d said Head of School Rob Hereford<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Plans for the 5,500 square feet of modern, dedicated\u00a0space have been in the works since 2014, a drought year\u00a0where the first big rains damaged the chemistry lab. They\u00a0did a short-term fix, but Hereford knew it was past time\u00a0to do some real improvements.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I give tours to people who were here back\u00a0in the \u201950s and \u201960s, and they say, \u2018Oh, it looks just like\u00a0when I was here as a student,\u2019\u201d said Hereford. \u201cThat\u00a0is comforting on one level, but a little\u00a0disturbing if you\u2019re trying to teach chemistry\u00a0in the 21st century.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working with the school\u2019s buildings\u00a0and grounds committee, KBZ Architects,\u00a0and the science department, the team\u00a0settled on renovating two older existing\u00a0locker rooms that had morphed into what\u00a0Hereford called \u201cthe campus junk drawer,\u00a0where anything we didn\u2019t know what to do\u00a0with we would just throw it into that space.\u201d But the size\u00a0was right, and there was already plumbing, which would\u00a0be needed for lab space.\u00a0One of the \u201codd advantages\u201d of having closed the\u00a0campus for so many months is that the project \u2014 which
\nincludes biology and chemistry labs, a STEM Research\u00a0and Innovation Lab, outdoor research areas, a physics lab,\u00a0and a teacher innovation lab, which gives teachers from\u00a0different grades and disciplines a space for collaboration\u00a0\u2014 is now on schedule to open sometime in January 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an outstanding science program, and we were\u00a0doing it in spite of our mediocre facilities,\u201d said Hereford.\u00a0\u201cThis allows us to have really up-to-date facilities that we\u00a0can grow into. There is space for teachers to be able to do\u00a0more and expand the programs in ways that are really\u00a0going to be terrific. When I think of what we\u2019ve been able\u00a0to pull off in these substandard facilities, it\u2019s exciting to\u00a0think about what our teachers will be able to do in these brand-new spaces.”<\/p>\n

\"SB<\/a>

SB Independent Cover, Schools of Thought, November 19, 2020.<\/p><\/div>\n

Originally published in the Santa Barbara Independent<\/em> on November 19, 2020. To read the section as it appeared in print, please click here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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