Roseland University Prep is a small college-preparatory charter high school in the heart of Roseland, a community of adversity and need in Santa Rosa, California. The school is making a big difference in its students’ lives as well as those of their families—more than 95% of the students who attend Roseland University Prep graduate and attend college, a rate nearly 30% higher than California and national averages. The building design takes inspiration from the agrarian barns of the farms surrounding the site, their gabled forms both contextually appropriate and economically efficient. Throughout the school, the focus is on the experience of the students, from the flow and eddies of circulation and gathering to the deliberate exposure to light and nature. Warm and textured interior finish materials reflect the school’s nurturing qualities. Multifunction circulation areas and a large interior amphitheater create spaces for students and teachers to meet casually, as well as for formal teaching or community gatherings, reinforcing the family-like nature of the Roseland school community. The resulting design creates a strong identity for the school that is open and inviting, warm and nurturing, a beacon of education and promise.