AISG Campus 2.0: What to Expect

All images in this article are used with permission from the AISG facilities master plan team.

Next year, AISG is going to be completely redesigned, and many facilities will be revamped and renovated, including the cafeteria, gym, library, and classrooms. According to school administrators, these substantial changes will be extremely beneficial to students and will bring the school into the future.

The new campus facilities will also include a wing for students in grades 3-5, who will move to Science Park in two to three years. For some students, this new campus design is one that sounds like a dream come true. Sadly, this year’s juniors and any departing students will not be here to enjoy the school’s new amenities. Some students were concerned by some of the troubles and consequences that this construction might cause; however, students were reassured by HS principal Mr. Kerry Timmerman and facilities director Mr. Ian Hogg that the school’s construction project would not interfere with learning in any way.

Mr. Hogg remarked that the purpose of these changes was to create a modern learning space for students that would promote “a change in pedagogy that would improve the connectivity, flexibility, and freedom in learning.” This is evident through the school’s new “Pathfinder center,” which will include multiple interconnected classrooms and art rooms, and will lead out into a central courtyard. Classrooms will also be interconnected via flexible and movable walls, which will allow for more interaction between different classes. These classrooms will also feature glass walls, which will allow students to receive more natural light.

Next year, Ms. Barga, Mr. McCarthy (Mr. Sinclair’s replacement), and Ms. Owen in the high school, as well as Ms. Hill, Mr. Brooks and another new English teacher in the middle school will be phased into these new classrooms already, although other classroom renovations will not be complete until the following school year. AISG currently possesses an extremely developed curriculum, but lacks some of the facilities that could assist in delivering modern instruction. The hope is that when the construction project is finished, the school will be more appropriate for an innovative and modern curriculum.

In addition to new classrooms, there will be a number of changes to the school’s sports facilities. The school’s gym will be split into a middle-school and high-school section, and a swimming pool will be added to one of the gym’s sub-levels. The gym’s roof will also be converted into roof-top fields and courts. With regards to the school’s soccer field, a parking garage will be added below the field. The school’s plans for its sports facilities and classrooms are extremely ambitious and are likely to be extremely beneficial to students pursuing physical education and sports in the future. During the period of construction, students will have to go off-site for physical education courses and sports, but this is a small price to pay for better facilities.

The school’s red building will also be converted into an elementary building and will allow for grade 3-5 students to move to Science Park, which has always been AISG’s long term plan. Mr. Hogg remarked that the purpose of this build is “not to increase the capacity of the school [or] to increase enrollment, but to transform this school into the school of the future.” A part of this future includes transforming AISG into a learning space for elementary, middle-school and high-school students. This facility change will further advance the development of AISG’s community at Science Park, as this renovation will increase the interaction between students of various grades and ages.

Some students are concerned about how their learning will be impacted by these changes to the campus, but Mr. Hogg wishes to reassure students that all consequences of the build will be addressed, and students in no way will be disadvantaged in their learning by ongoing construction, including IB students. The school’s campus will benefit student productivity and learning due to the numerous advancements in the school’s pedagogy that will be brought forward by the school’s facility changes.