Northwest ISD Navigator Magazine Spring 2017-18 | Page 12

Designing Northwest ISD’s school of the future DISTRICT WORKS WITH STUDENTS TO MAKE NEW ELEMENTARY PROTOTYPE DESIGN By Anthony Tosie [email protected] Elementary schools are places where memories that can last forever are made, and Northwest ISD is in the process of designing a new set of schools – thanks to the help of current students – to make those memories focused on collaboration with others. To design the district’s newest elementary schools, Northwest ISD facilities team members and the district’s architect partner, Huckabee, reached out to the exact people who will get the most use out of them: students. Students across 12 the district, particularly at the elementary level, provided their ideas on what worked best in a school’s design, with all feedback considered, no matter how minor. One of the participants in those feedback sessions, Justin Elementary School fourth-grader Zaida Ceballos, focused on school security in her design mockups. Zaida said the process was a positive learning experience and that she’s eager to see a school using the design in person.