GlenOak High School

Glen Oak High School in suburban Plains, Ohio just outside of Canton is designed to be a modern community learning center and is an example of a successful community partnership. The Plain Community Campus includes a modern high school, space for a future health facility for the entire community, a community library, a performing arts center, and a modern athletic facility. The Stark County Park Service has also set aside land for a bike and walking trail that will connect to the Stark County Trail Path. 

Creating a Sense of Community

The school has an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students from grades 9-12 and while the facility is large (371,000 square feet) particular attention has been paid to creating smaller learning environments.  The school is organized around six career clusters that integrate career technologies and 21st Century skill building with core academics in smaller learning communities.  Each Career Academy is a distinct, independent unit with its own vision, culture and environment, which allows each student to customize their own learning environment.

The academy model provides students with a transition to high school academics and a chance to explore the different career cluster programs offered through the school. Each academy opens with an informal "commons" area for student teaming and creative problem solving.  Each area has a ceiling mounted projection system and two small conference rooms also available for student and teacher use.

All of the rooms are equipped with built-in video projection units that can be controlled from the room or used to broadcast communications building-wide.  Wireless microphone systems allow the teachers voice to be heard distinctly by every participant. The entire facility supports a wireless environment to encourage laptop research and communications.  The administration and faculty spaces were also decentralized to create a community of learners and to provide security enhancements throughout the facility.  The principals and faculty are distributed across the academies and housed opposite the most active student areas.   

Community Engagement and Partnerships

The GlenOak High School was designed with particular attention to providing access to the broader community.  The performing arts center, the privately owned coffee shop, and the cosmetology center are all placed at the very front of the school for easy public access. 

Community involvement in the design of the school centered on a committee made up of 65 community members were selected to work closely with design professionals, potential community partners, and infrastructure and regulatory agencies to move the project forward. The committee outlined the major goals for the community campus including: creating a learning center for the community that serves all members; designing state-of-the art facilities for science and technology; providing a strong emphasis on the arts; creating a buffer to residential areas, with a strong emphasis on optimizing green space. 

The large front public piazza, which affords access to the school, cosmetology, daycare, community library, and performing arts facilities, is designed to be a high energy, interactive community space.   Meeting rooms, the performing arts hall and the commons areas all have been designed for multiple uses.  The Rotary of Plain Township donated an "international peace" water feature and soon benches and umbrella tables will be available to community members.

While the majority of the funding for the Campus came from the $65 million bond referendum the construction of the school has led to growing list of partnerships. The Plain Stark County District Library signed a 20-year lease with the district, contributing $1.5 million dollars to the school and now occupies 20,

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