The design of the new Arlington High School supports interdisciplinary learning, community programs, and the town’s goal of a carbon-free future. Backed by an overwhelmingly positive town vote, the all-electric, LEED Platinum school replaces an outdated facility with welcoming and flexible spaces for hands-on teaching and learning.
The new school is organized along a central spine connecting the upper Massachusetts Avenue entrance and tree-lined green to the athletic fields, parking, and bikeway at the lower entrance. Four wings—STEAM, humanities, performing arts, and athletics—plug into the spine and contain flexible classrooms, science labs, teacher planning areas, independent and project-based learning nooks, and maker and art spaces. Moving through the building, the central spine serves as the lobby for main public venues within the performing arts and athletics wings—the 800-seat auditorium, black box theater, and gymnasiums—then becomes a broad forum stair cascading down the cafeteria and lower entrance, serving as a connector and informal social space.
The natural environment is integrated into the learning environment through daylighting and connections to outdoor spaces including an amphitheater and courtyards. With its welcoming main entrances and glazed courtyard between the academic wings, the new school celebrates its role as an accessible, flexible, and sustainable town-wide resource.