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? • • • • • 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 • 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. • 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. • 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. • 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
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