Quincy High School was failing. The separation of its vocational/technical and academic programs created two separate and unequal social groups. The public viewed it as the “trade” school compared to North Quincy High School, which was the more elite college-preparatory school. It also had a combative relationship with its residential neighbors on one side and a struggling downtown on the other. Additionally, the adjacent wetlands and a coastal flood plain complicated any architectural or urban design interventions.
In an evolving American economy, the notion of the simple vocational/technical school was becoming increasingly outdated. In the 21st Century it is imperative for students to maintain a balance of social, academic, and vocational skills that will allow them to be competitive, regardless of their career path. The dramatically redesigned Quincy High School achieves this goal through a combination of conceptually powerful “academies,” with a layout and design that not only supports the new educational mission but is a resource for the community as well.
Bridging the Gap
The school has been located at the heart of the city’s downtown, on a site with limited buildable area since 1924. The school was originally designed with a building for academic courses and a separate structure for vocational courses, the two separated by a heavily trafficked roadway linked only by an overhead pedestrian bridge. This separation resulted in both a physical and social fracture, worsening the divide between academic and technical learning, and undermining any natural interaction among academic and technical students and staff. The new school transforms the road that once divided the campus into a courtyard designed to connect students, faculty, and staff.
Ready for Change
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Quincy High School leadership developed new goals emphasizing interdisciplinary learning and combining theoretical and hands-on concepts. For example, students of science, physics, and metal fabrication to collaborate on robotics projects. While effective, a full redirection of focus toward a unified academic/vocational program was continually stymied by the layout and condition of the buildings and campus.
After a school-wide facilities assessment, Quincy High was designated for renovation or replacement. The City embarked on extended facility, site, and educational planning evaluation over the course of seven years. The evaluation culminated in a set of guidelines that would allow the new school design to facilitate academic integration and realize Quincy’s vision for a modern educational model.
Complete Collaboration
The Quincy High School administration, superintendent, and educational programmer/architect incorporated a decade of public discussions and decisions from the City’s past initiatives as well as priorities from the faculty’s 21st Century education program, and the City’s stipulation that the school remain at its downtown location. The concept of a “series of academies,” blurring the lines between academic and vocational/technical study emerged as a result of the collaboration between school officials and SMMA’s team.
