The Ground Has Been Broken!
Construction Begins on Improved DeLaSalle Facilities & New Center for Innovative Learning
DeLaSalle High School officially broke ground Tuesday,
May 19 on its latest
multi-million dollar
facility improvement.
Students and staff joined
several benefactors and
friends of the school in
front of the school to
symbolically begin the
latest enhancements to
the DeLaSalle campus,
first planned more than two years ago and first announced
to families, alumni and friends in October 2014. President
Barry Lieske led the entire community in prayer and
reminded the audience that all facility enhancements are
done with the best interests of students and their learning
at the forefront.
The project is the fourth multi-million dollar facility
enhancement since 1999 alone. All four projects have been
paid exclusively from capital gifts raised by DeLaSalle’s
development team and administrators, under the approval
of the DeLaSalle Board of Trustees.
What Will Fill the CIL?
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The Center for Innovative Learning (CIL) will be the
centerpiece for campus expansion and renovation, to
open by the fall of 2016.
Modern and multi-dimensional classroom space will
replace locker and weight rooms in the middle of the
campus. Repositioning academics at the core of the
campus allows for multi-departmental projects (such
as robotics or multi-media production) in larger and
less confined rooms.
The hub of the CIL features flexible spaces for creative,
activity- and project-based
learning, spaces for multimedia production and interdepartmental instruction, and
resources for enhanced use of
emerging technologies in all
academic fields.
Rather than add traditional
classroom boxes, DeLaSalle
will construct learning spaces
that enhance its current 1:1 technology program and
college and career preparatory curriculum.
With all the information in the world available
on a tablet or computer, students can take full
advantage of modern facilities and take the lead in
Project Aligns With Emerging Education Needs
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DeLaSalle will be among the first high schools in
Minnesota to add a learning space like the Center
for Innovative Learning, just as we were among the
first to implement a 1:1 tablet technology program four
years ago.
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The days of
students sitting
in one place
and listening
to a lecture
are giving way
to interactive
learning with students far more engaged in discovery.
The design of the new CIL responds to this new
pedagogy. Adaptability and collaboration drive the
design, as learning spaces accommodate both group
projects and individual inquiry. Almost all the furniture
will be movable so that classes can quickly adjust their
settings based on the day’s lesson.
discovery, research, collaboration, connection across
curriculum, and relevant applications of knowledge.
Together, in such innovative and multi-dimensional
learning spaces, teachers and students will be better
equipped in areas of investigation, problem-solving
and critical analysis.
Creating a Better Campus Plan
• The project presents an opportunity to improve
campus infrastructure and link all three buildings on
campus more effectively.
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DeLaSalle has already replaced
its heating and electrical systems
since it first announced the project
last fall - work that was completed
more cost effectively than had it been
done separately.
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With new corridors and other
facility additions, we address safety
and student traffic concerns with
a more logical flow of parking and
hallway traffic. Moving storage and locker rooms to
a new place on the north end of the campus better
connects those spaces to the new athletic field and
existing gymnasiums.
Gateway to the Future