Extra! Extra! Engineering – Not Your Typical High School

NOT YOUR TYPICAL HIGH SCHOOL

The sound of school bells ringing might not be as prevalent as the sound of zoom notifications chiming these days, but that does not stop the importance of learning in K-12 education. And it certainly doesn’t stop the construction for the days ahead when elementary, middle, and high schools are back in session in-person. Our Charlotte office and Senior Project Specialist, Steve Guinn, are very familiar with the “stop and go” of schoolwork.

Senior Project Specialist, Steve Guinn, has worked on K-12 and University/Higher Ed. schools throughout his 30-year career. He is currently working on a special project for the state of North Carolina, the new Morganton Campus of the North Carolina School of Science  and Mathematics (NCSSM). The NCSSM is a part of the University of North Carolina School System that also includes University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC State, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and many others. With two locations, the NCSSM’s original campus is centered in Durham, North Carolina near Duke University. The Morganton Campus will be the second to follow in response to the fast growth of the main campus.

The NCSSM is not your typical high school for it is specifically designed for students with a high aptitude for science and math, with similarities to a private institution. But as a public school, all students from the 100 counties in the state of North Carolina can submit applications to compete for a spot to attend the NCSSM for their junior and senior years of high school. It’s not just attendance they obtain if they pass the application process. They also become residents of the high school, living on campus in dorms to emulate a precollege experience.

With a strong political desire for the state to invest in and energize the western part of the state, the Morganton campus location was developed from a large portion of land the state already owned. Previously that land housed Broughton Hospital, a psychiatric hospital serviced by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division, the North Carolina School for The Deaf, and Western Piedmont Community College. As the School for The Deaf shrank its campus footprint, it left behind abandoned buildings with historic and aesthetic value. The acquisition of these abandoned buildings is how the NCSSM was able to blend historic renovations with new construction and create a state of the art campus.

Along with Duda/Paine Architects, Steve and our Charlotte team are working on two new buildings currently under construction: The Residence Hall and the Academic/Commons Building, which includes a Library, Lab/Classroom space and Dining facilities. Also, currently in design, is the SWAC: Student Wellness Activity Center which includes a gym, aerobics center, and local health clinic.

Due to the Covid pandemic, NCSSM will now open in 2022. Even with the pandemic stalling the return to the classroom, the founders’ early vision of the NCSSM has matured into a vital institution that will continue to model and advocate for excellence in public education. Since its construction, eighteen similar schools have sprung from the same model in the U.S. and abroad, making the future very, very bright.