Sequoia Union High School District

Facilities Master Plan

A Facilities Master Plan is a strategic document that sets a vision for the next ten years of future facility improvements. With school districts facing so many diverse and ever-changing educational needs, a facilities master plan establishes a clear road map for using, improving, and creating new campus facilities that best fit the needs of each school. It defines facility improvements that will directly enhance and support educational programs and the pedagogy of the school.

The plan is community focused, where a wide range of faculty, staff, parents, students, and community stakeholders set the goals and determine future facility needs. The plan becomes a reflection of the community’s collective vision and shared values, unique to the Sequoia Union High School District. Building from this foundation, the master plan creates a framework translating into actionable plans, ready for District leadership to implement.

View the Sequoia Union High School District Facilities Master Plan (last updated November 27, 2023), also embedded below:

Goals and Visioning

Academic Programs

Replace undersized and outdated general education classrooms where possible
Create more visible collaboration and breakout spaces
Replace any portables
Emphasize general education spaces

Student Life

Increase capacity and centralize student support service spaces
Focus on counseling, wellness, college/career, and student-oriented space
Create centralized conference rooms and flex spaces for use outside of class
Centralize student life functions into a central hub, forming a student union if possible

Science and the Arts

Centralize science classes where possible
Improve collaborative spaces and support spaces for art
Create shared gallery space to better share student work

Physical Education and Athletics

PE and Athletics goals were site-specific and project focused
Establish facility parity across school sites, balanced by need where possible
Each site highlighted different areas of greatest need, including bleachers, weight room, locker rooms, turf fields, and lights

Infrastructure

Renovate restrooms, create new gender-neutral restrooms
Incorporate top renovation projects such as window and roofing improvements
Replace HVAC and add air conditioning throughout (in progress)

Safety

Create site campus pathways linking the campus to the public right-of-way
Improve the visibility of the "front door" and campus way-finding
Enhance general campus safety where feasible without overly fortifying the sites
Reduce areas of poor supervision and visibility where possible

Sustainability

Integrate sustainable design features through collaborative engagement
Involve the District's student-led sustainability groups in the design process
Augment solar arrays and energy efficiency at each campus

Community

Better wayfinding and visibility of the school's front door
Easier access to counseling and student support spaces
Improved parking wherever feasible

About the Facilities Master Plan

Committees

District Core Team

This central committee is responsible for the overall direction and success of the master plan. Consisting of the District Superintendent, the District’s Facilities Project Manager, and CAW Architects, this team evaluated stakeholder input, campus planning concepts, and guided the budgeting and prioritization process. This core team finalizes the master plan to present to the board.

Site Facility Committees

At each comprehensive high school, a specific school site committee was formed to guide the planning process. This committee serves as a primary contributor to the planning process. This committee consisted of 15 to 20 members evenly distributed across faculty, staff, parents, and students. This committee provided key input on campus deficiencies, specific needs, and overall goals. Once preliminary site plans were established, this committee provided invaluable input on the shaping and preliminary prioritization of key projects.

Outreach Process

The outreach process was organized into two phases. During the earlier stages of planning, the first phase focused on data gathering, goal setting, and establishing some guiding principles to develop future projects. Towards the end of the process, the second phase of outreach analyzed and refined the draft campus plans and project statements that emerged through the planning process.

Principal 1-on-1 meetings were first conducted at each comprehensive school site. In these meetings, the principals shared their key areas of concern, major deficiencies, and what were some of their preliminary needs. They helped the CAW team better understand how the campus is used.

Site Facility Committee Workshops were next held at each campus. Led by CAW, these workshops further explored the educational and programmatic needs of each campus and how facilities might
best support these academic objectives. In these workshops, each committee developed a set of prioritized preliminary goals to inform the further development of the plan.

School Community Forums were conducted online. These town-halls included invitations to the entire faculty and parent community, and students to further explore the themes developed in the Site Facility Committee Workshops.

Small School Outreach: CAW coordinated with each school site through the District and met with select principals of various small schools in the District. Small school site input was obtained primarily through each principal.

Focus Group - Facilities, Maintenance and Operations: CAW led two workshops with M&O staff to understand ongoing maintenance work, areas of concern, and major projects that the M&O is considering.

Towards the end of the planning process, CAW led a second round of community outreach to vet and refine the preliminary campus master plans through Principal 1-on-1’s and the Site Facility Committees, and Maintenance and Operations.

Outreach

District: March 18, 2022

School Site Committee Workshop: April 29 - May 6, 2022

Principal 1-on-1: May 20 - May 25, 2022

School-wide Parents/Faculty Workshop: May 9 - May 26, 2022

Small School Principal: February 1, 2023

M&O Focus Group: February 2, 2023

Planning

District: January 26, 2023

Principal 1-on-1: February 9 - February 17, 2023

District: April 20, 2023

M&O Focus Group: April 20, 2023