DLR Group and GraceHebert Architects have collaborated to create a connected and hands-on learning design for Lee High School located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

From 2010 to 2015, many communities like East Baton Rouge were losing students to either private schools for better educational opportunities or the streets, and a radical change was necessary to retain students through graduation. In order to stave off the potential loss of students, the East Baton Rouge Parish School System (EBRPSS) embraced a new way of teaching and learning with the new Lee High School. The vision for the new school replaced an aged industrial high school with a new delivery model focusing on connectivity – primarily visual connections to get students excited about learning and the activities that are happening within the facility. The design supports real-life experiences, allowing students to apply what they learn in a classroom in a specialized hands-on laboratory. The college-focused curriculum, educational environment, and social atmosphere emphasizes the development of the skills, attitudes, and aptitudes that students need to succeed in the 21st century.

Lee High School is a multi-functional, early college facility with three distinct academies: Digital Arts; Biomedical; and STEM. Supported by a comprehensive partnership between LSU and the East Baton Rouge Parish School System, the three academies offer students access to meaningful, real-world, project-based learning opportunities supported by LSU’s research and engineering labs. The partnership between EBRPSS and LSU is multi-directional. High school students enter college with up to 30 college credits and a better understanding of their preferred career field, while LSU receives better prepared students that result in increased retention and graduation rates. The result is a domino effect that produces a stronger Louisiana workforce already skilled in STEM.

Educational opportunities also are elevated through partnerships with local, national, and international business, industry, and government entities. The District turned a potentially dire situation of losing students to private schools into a catalyst to bring these students back with a new campus, a forward-thinking educational model, and an entrepreneur-like approach to real-life learning.

Architect of Record: GraceHebert Architects Education Design Architect: DLR Group Contractor: Milton J. Womack, Inc. Photography: Michael Robinson Photography

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