Chapman University’s graphic design program is partnering with the California-based Samueli Academy, a public charter high school and LPA client, to improve the college and career readiness of students in the Academy’s Design Pathway program. Samueli Academy offers educational opportunities for students from under-served communities.
Under the new partnership, Samueli Academy’s Design Pathway students will attend guest speaker lectures, career discovery days and receive exclusive access to events where they will be able to network and learn from artists and other industry professionals. The partnership will “also provide opportunities for mentorship and ‘two-way’ internship opportunities for current Chapman students and Samueli students,” according to a Chapman University article.
LPA has been working with the school for many years to develop learning environments that support work-based learning, project-based learning, college readiness and education around the “whole” student.
“Our design discussions with Samueli leaders often focus on how learning environments can help prepare students for the real world,” LPA Project Designer Lindsay Hayward says.
Flexibility and adaptability to the shifting programmatic needs is a big part of the Samueli Academy’s design. The spaces currently used for its graphic design program were designed in the long-term for science classes.
“The campus we designed for Samueli Academy easily adapts into different learning environments for a variety of disciplines,” Hayward says.
LPA is working with Samueli Academy on a campus expansion that will help expand its offerings and support services. The next phase of the campus, slated to open in Fall 2020, will include new design labs purpose-built for the school’s art and graphic design program, including collaboration space for presentations, peer to peer engagement and programs such as the one offered by Chapman. The future graphic design space will address the programmatic needs with features such as a green screen room for multimedia and broadcast activities, pin-up and digital display space for critiques and project reviews both inside and outside the labs, and ample storage.
“We believe the success of a project can be measured in its resiliency, and we are striving to design a campus for generations of Samueli Academy students to thrive,” Hayward says.
