Celebrating New Schools / New Spaces 2023

In the fall of 2023, thousands of students will walk into seven brand new schools designed by our team at MOA.

This marks the most new schools MOA has ever opened in a single school year. But in addition to these new schools, we are also celebrating the completion of 2 major school additions, and over a dozen renovation and upgrade projects.

As a firm focused on educational architecture, we know the powerful message that new schools and new spaces send to students: we care about you and your future. So it’s been our honor to help communities deliver this message to the next generation—designing and delivering projects big and small, renovated and new, pre-K through high school, from Loveland to Pueblo.

And for every student learning in a new space this fall, there is an adult who helped bring that space to life—administrators, district staff, facilities staff, teachers, architects, interior designers, engineers, contractors, vendors and suppliers, and many, many more. It takes a community to pass a bond for a new school—but a whole other community to design and build one.

See below for an overview of the amazing work our teams, clients, and industry partners are delivering this fall.

A new era of education in Pueblo

This August, Pueblo School District 60 deserves all the gold stars—opening an incredible five new schools.

Funding these projects through their 2019 $237 million bond initiative, Pueblo is making a historic investment in its future. Two new high schools, two new elementary schools, and a new K-8 expeditionary school are just the most visible parts of this transformation, which also includes dozens of district-wide upgrades and improvements.

MOA is fortunate to have worked with D60 for six years now, beginning with an award-winning facilities master plan and continuing with the design of the five new schools, in partnership with HGF Architects, RTA Architects, and BrainSpaces.

Bridging the mental health gap in Cherry Creek Schools

This October, Cherry Creek Schools is doing something unprecedented—opening the first district-owned and -operated day treatment center in the country.

As a day treatment center, Traverse Academy serves students in crisis, providing a bridge between inpatient or full-time clinical care and the stresses of regular public school.

The district has taken a major risk in championing this approach—these facilities are typically run by the state or healthcare provider—and MOA is thrilled to have collaborated with the district on this first-of-its-kind project. Combining the talents of our PK-12 education and healthcare studios, MOA delivered a facility that sits at the intersection of mental healthcare and secondary education.

The project has received substantial interest on the national stage, with our teams leading sessions on the project at the national AIA and A4LE conferences.

Expanding in Aurora

MOA celebrated two decades of working with Aurora Public Schools by completing another two major projects for the district this year. Del Mar Academy is a PK-8 school in the Lynn Knoll neighborhood. MOA also completed the second phase of Aurora Science Technology School, a STEM-focused middle-high school located on the Fitzsimons Innovation Campus.

Rounding out a trio of new elementary schools in Littleton

The final of three new elementary schools for Littleton Public Schools, Little Raven Elementary School serves 650 students in a diverse community in Littleton.

The school’s interior design highlights this diversity: the lobby features a wall graphic of a tree with colorful roots that include maps from cities around the world.

A fast-track addition at Jeffco

Typically, when our teams design a school facility to accommodate future expansion, we don’t know when the addition will happen—but we assume it won’t happen right away.

Except when it does: Jeffco gave the go-ahead for a classroom addition to Prospect Valley Elementary School, while construction was still underway on the main project.

The team successfully shepherded the addition through documentation and permitting while concurrently overseeing construction on the original new facility.

Renovations, upgrades & improvements

In addition to these larger projects, there are plenty of other projects wrapping up this fall.

From mechanical systems replacements to finish updates, these projects improve or maintain school facilities across the Rocky Mountain region.

• Excel Academy Renovations
• New America School Renovations (Lakewood Campus)
• Various Renovation Projects for Jeffco Public Schools
• Various Renovation Projects for Thompson Public Schools
• Various Renovation Projects for Littleton Public Schools
• Various Renovation Projects for St. Vrain Valley Schools