Completed in 2008, the $33 million school offers career-focused and technical “cross-collaborative” education for 11th-and-12th-grade students

PLANO, TEXAS, February 9, 2010 – Frisco Independent School District’s $33 million Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center has been honored with the national 2010 Shirley Cooper Award, which is presented annually to architecturally significant educational projects that best meet the educational needs of its students. The award is hosted by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), the American Institute of Architects and the Council of Education Facility Planners’ International Architectural Jury.

The CTE Center opened in the fall of 2008 and was designed by Plano, Texas-based SHW Group, one of the nation’s largest architecture and engineering firms that specializes in design for the K-12 and higher education sectors. The school will be honored at an awards ceremony at AASA’s 2010 National Conference on Education in Phoenix. This is SHW Group’s second Shirley Cooper Award. In 2001, the firm was honored for its design of Roy Lee Walker Elementary School in McKinney, Texas.

Part of the Frisco Independent School District, the 125,618-square-foot CTE Center is a school- of-choice facility where college-bound and career-bound 11th-and-12th-grade students engage in a cross-collaborative experience that merges real-world professional environments with educational programs.

“To be recognized at an international level by educators, facility planners and architects sends a strong external message about the talent and knowledge of our design team. The project was also significant internally because it defined a new project approach for us—we became an extension of the Frisco ISD. As a result, the CTE center has become a model for the approach we take on all of our projects,” said Jimmy Strohmeyer, managing principal of SHW Group. “Long before the CTE Center project hit the drawing boards, our firm engaged with school administrators, community businesses and corporate partners to craft a vision for the facility. That vision was substantiated through insightful research that included school tours nationwide, end-user surveys and consultation from colleges and businesses.”

The contemporary two-story structure was designed to consolidate the resources across multiple campuses within a single building. Thus, it allows students to explore their interests and focus on possible job options. As a result, the tools, environment and curriculum the students are exposed to closely resemble what they will experience in the real world as young adults. For example, the center offers a full-service restaurant, credit union/bank, a court room for mock trials, TV and radio studios, computer and animation labs, an architecture lab, marketing and media centers, medical and veterinary science labs, a warehouse, a copy center and a mail room. A 4,000-square-foot greenhouse was also constructed to support the horticulture curriculum.

SHW Group also designed the center to offer unique “cross-collaborative” opportunities.  For example, students from the marketing program team up with students from the TV and radio programs to write, shoot and edit television ads promoting sales and other activities. These ads, as well as other content created by CTE Center students, are displayed on a two-story flat screen media wall located in the center’s centralized atrium. With the ability to divide into 15 screens, this wall inspires student interest in the various programs and facilitates communication among students, teachers, administrators and the community.

Since its completion, SHW Group has been honored with several awards for its design excellence for the Frisco CTE Center, including:

• Outstanding Secondary School construction award in TASA/TASB’s school architecture competition, recognized in all six categories: value, process of planning, design, educational appropriateness, innovation and sustainability;
• 2009 Terrazzo Honor Award from the National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association, given to 14 of the best mosaic or faux-marble floorings in the country;
• Silver Citation for common areas from American School and University;
• Recognition as an innovative school in American School and University; and,
• Momentum Award in the Workforce Catalyst Category from the Dallas Regional Chamber.

“Winning the Shirley Cooper Award validates what we’ve known about the Frisco CTE all along — that it’s a great example of what districts can achieve when planning, educational vision and design all come together,” said principal-in-charge Trey Laird. “The real reward is hearing about the success students are having in their project work—the stories are unprecedented and highlight a program that gives kids a chance to define what they want to do after high school, be it a career or college.”

“As a result, everyone wants a tour,” Laird continues. “The district has welcomed many educators, architects, government officials and business leaders inside the facility for a first-hand look of an all-around extraordinary learning environment.”

For more information about SHW Group, please visit www.shwgroup.com.

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Media Contact: Nicole Traycoff
ntraycoff@shwgroup.com, (214) 473-2424

Claire Bloxom
claire@coopersmithagency.com, (214) 329-9191