The AIA San Joaquin chapter recently recognized Delano USD’s Pioneer School with an Award of Merit in Education Design. Built on a hardship budget, the academic villages at Pioneer School lead students through their educational progression from Pre-K–8 to the neighboring high school. Grade levels are strategically distributed and given their own identity, and a strong emphasis was placed on creating outdoor learning environments that allow learning to happen everywhere.

The classrooms feature flexibility and ample exposure to natural daylight through clerestory windows. More than 10 percent of the floor area in each classroom is dedicated to windows to allow maximum daylight into the learning environment. The introduction of breakout spaces and technology labs create a flexible learning environment that meets the needs of today and tomorrow. Each academic village provides a sense of identity through graphics, bold color and signage. The villages also feature a large-scale quote wall that is inspirational and introduces students to local historical figures from the community. For example, one wall features quotes from Cesar Chavez’s movement, which invokes a sense of pride within this rural community.

Congrats to the project team for an outstanding and award winning school!

Nicholas Clevenger, Roberto Marguez, Andy Thompson, Hayley Ruthrauff, James Krueger, Brian Staton, John Galang, Tom Cavanagh, Beryl Mensonides, Thomas Hunter, Jennifer Chiang-Lin, Steve Prince, Melinda Pendleton, Evan Troxel, Jessica Liu, Julie Strauss and Sepi Salehirad.