Arbor Heights School, a project that was completed early and under budget held its ribbon cutting on Sept. 6 and introduced the community to an innovative and cleverly designed learning environment meant to serve the community for 50 years or more. The school is located at 3701 SW 104th St.

In attendance were hundreds of parents and students plus dignitaries including:
Sharon Nelson State Senator 34th District
Zach Hudgins, State Representative, 11th District
Sebrena Burr, President, Seattle PTSA
Melissa Pailthorp, President of Schools First, Seattle
Leslie Harris, Member at Large, Seattle School Board
Dr. Larry Nyland, Superintendent, Seattle Public Schools
Christy Collins, Arbor Heights Principal
Betty Patu, President of the Seattle School Board

The 91.000 square foot, preK-5 school was designed to hold 660 students, and the $40 million budget came from the BEX IV Levy. The Seattle Public Schools’ (SPS) Environmental Science Technology Engineering Math (E-STEM) program is imbued into nearly every aspect of the school's design.

Sixteen members of the School Design Advisory Team, including SPS staff members, parents and neighbors, helped design the school with Bassetti Architects. Utilizing the theme “Environmental Learning from Sea to Sky” the building, itself, fosters opportunities for students to cultivate 21st century skills and creates successful conditions for the E-STEM program.

Outside, playfields, the running track, covered play area, raised bed planters, storm water cisterns, a sundial, an in-ground slide (still coming), educational signage, nature engagement areas, and outdoor classrooms encourage physical activity, casual and structured play, social interaction, and outdoor learning.

The full size gym, sharing dividable space with the lunchroom/auditorium, will be open to the public after school hours.

Throughout the school in keeping with the E-STEM philosophy the designers incorporated a mathematical concept called the Fibonacci Sequence. It is the series of numbers 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34 and so on derived by adding up the two numbers before it.

The floor design, window designs, and room designators all reflect this concept and that of the Golden Mean in either line or graphic sequence or a spiral.

Learning Communities at the school are intentionally designed to provide a personalized learning environment for the E-STEM program. Each has five classrooms organized around an Open Learning Area, a Group Study Room, and an Idea or Maker Lab where students will collaborate to bring ideas to life. All of them are interconnected to provide a highly adaptable and robust environment for hands-on and project-based learning in art, science, and technology.

Sustainability is also embedded in the design and used as building-based learning examples: simple, energy-efficient building forms; windows oriented for optimum solar exposure and views; sun shades to control daylight; south-facing roofs for future solar panels; rain gardens for stormwater management; rainwater catchers, exposed rainwater discharge, and above-ground cisterns; large illustrative graphics and ecosystem-themed learning communities; natural cooling and user-controlled ceiling fans; LED lighting throughout; automatic sensors and controls that turn off power and lights; and a “guts-out” approach that showcases the building’s structure and systems.

Finally, a video-screen dashboard allows the building’s energy-usage to be monitored by staff and students, once again leveraging the building design to enhance learning.