Irvine City News
  • Home
  • SPECIAL REPORT
  • PUBLISHER'S NOTE
  • FEATURE
  • BUSINESS
  • CITY
    • AROUND TOWN
  • COMMUNITY
  • OPINION
  • LIFE
    • EDUCATION
    • SPORTS
    • ENTERTAINMENT
    • RECREATION
    • DINING
    • TOP 10
  • About
    • PICK UP A PRINT COPY
    • COMMENT POLICY
    • Contact
    • ADVERTISE

Irvine's Portola High School honored for design and construction

3/1/2018

0 Comments

 

Best of the Best: Portola High School honored

Irvine’s newest high school is the “best of the best” in design and construction ​
By Irvine City News staff ​
Irvine’s newest and most innovative high school was honored for achievement in design and construction by Engineering News-Record magazine, which named Portola High School the “best of the best” K-12 education project in California, and in the United States. 

“This announcement comes as the culmination of a nearly year-long effort put forth by dozens of industry judges and the ENR editorial team to identify the pinnacle of design and construction achievement in the entire U.S., among projects completed between May 2016 and May 2017,” ENR said about the annual awards, which were announced in the magazine’s March issue. 

Portola High School doors opened to its first class of freshmen students in August 2016. Built on 43 acres near the Orange County Great Park, the school draws students from North Irvine, including Great Park Neighborhoods. The school will eventually enroll some 2,600 students in grades 9 through 12. 

“To be able to pursue our vision in this state-of-the-art facility has been a dream come true,” said Portola High School Principal John Pehrson about the award. “Many times the facility can get in the way of what is trying to be accomplished, but at Portola, it actually inspires us to do even more than we can imagine.”  

The state-of-the-art facility, Irvine Unified School District’s fifth comprehensive high school, features classrooms with common areas and flexible furniture for collaborative learning; an electives building that houses video production, 2D and 3D art, music rooms and science labs; dedicated science labs and a makers space. There’s also a 2,044-seat gymnasium, a 2,940-seat stadium, two soccer fields and an aquatics center with a 50-meter pool, among many other innovative facilities and educational amenities. 

“Portola’s design creates an environment for students to engage, problem solve, take intellectual risks, and work together in flexible learning spaces where they can share their thoughts and ideas with their peers and educators, as part of their everyday learning process,” says IUSD Superintendent Terry Walker. 

The ENR competition began last March with a call for entries to the construction industry, which resulted in approximately 700 industry project teams submitting their work to the regional Best Projects competitions. In each of the 10 regions, the editors assembled panels of judges to select the regional winners in 20 categories. 
Once the regional winners were chosen, the top winners in each category from each region moved up to the national competition. “A brand new set of judges from across the country and from all walks of the industry examined each project in an effort to distinguish the best from the best in terms of teamwork, safety, overcoming challenges, innovation and quality,” according to ENR. 

The U.S. and California Best Project awards recognize IUSD, the owner of the school; HMC Architects, the lead designer; C.W. Driver, the general contractor; and the civil and structural engineers on the project, Epic Engineers and RM Byrd & Associates, respectively.  

The ENR judges noted that the school’s “tilted roofs look like airplane wings, and a walkway through the center of the campus resembles an airport runway. Buildings made of earthen wall slabs, and the student union’s green roof, blur the lines between indoor and outdoor spaces.  

Best Project judges also noted the use of four separate construction teams to manage an aggressive construction schedule: a 19-month construction window for what would typically be a 27- to 30-month project. 
​

“Portola is our first high school built in accordance with IUSD’s award-winning Education Specifications,” said IUSD Board of Education President Sharon Wallin. “These specifications detail the features needed to support instruction and 21st-century learning at the highest levels and are the result of collaboration with our teachers, administrators, facilities staff and architects.  

“On behalf of the district and the board of education, we are immensely proud of our Facilities and Construction team for their innovative implementation of IUSD’s vision and we thank our partners HMC Architects and C.W. Driver.”  ​
0 Comments

Irvine Public Schools Foundation honors corporate supporters

3/1/2018

0 Comments

 

IPSF honors corporate Irvine’s support of education 

Picture
NEDA EATON, PRESIDENT & CEO IPSF; IRVINE MAYOR DONALD WAGNER; DIANE KIM, IPSF BOARD OF TRUSTEES AT TOP 100
By Irvine City News staff ​
Leaders of socially responsible local companies were invited to a reception at The Resort at Pelican Hill to honor their commitment to public education in Irvine. Neda Eaton, president and CEO of Irvine Public Schools Foundation (IPSF), was the host of the 5th annual Top 100 Reception recognizing the companies that helped IPSF raise $3 million for Irvine schools. 

“We are proud to live in a professionally diverse community that allows us to build rich partnerships with companies across many industries. With their support, we are able to fulfill our vision of providing students with opportunities that prepare them for the future workforce,” Eaton said. 

Companies represented on IPSF’s Top 100 List include many of Orange County’s most influential corporations, including Microsemi, FivePoint, DCI Engineers, and Ingersoll Rand/Trane, as well as global brands such as Google, Maruchan, and Kia Motors.  

“These partnerships have provided a foundation for IPSF to fund grants that allow teachers to bring new, innovative curriculum to the classroom, build maker spaces to foster creativity and collaboration, and bring the Irvine CubeSat STEM Program to every high school in Irvine,” Eaton said.  

IPSF was recently ranked No. 3 in the nation and No. 1 in California among K-12 education foundations by Stepping Up: The Nation’s Top K-12 Education Foundations.  

On Feb. 13, IPSF presented a $2 million check to Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) at its Board of Education meeting representing the foundation’s 2018-2019 school year funding commitment. During the meeting, the school district also announced IPSF’s support of a new funding area of focus for the next year, a $250,000 commitment to district-wide mental health resources. 

In addition to the mental health initiative, IPSF’s areas of funding support to IUSD for the 2018-19 school year include: Smaller Learning Groups, which allocates resources for additional elementary instructional assistants, and additional middle and high school teachers; funding of the grades K-3 Primary Music program at all elementary schools; the CubeSat STEM program at all high schools; and the Health and Wellness initiative, which funds athletic trainers at each Irvine high school, and provides nursing services for grades K-8. 

IPSF offers more than $3 million in additional support to ISUD through sponsored programs that include Instrument Rental, Afterschool Classroom Enrichment, Summer Enrichment Academy, and the Innovative Grants Program for teachers.  
​

Since 1996, IPSF has donated more than $68 million in grants, donations, and program support to IUSD.  ​
0 Comments

    Archives

    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

Irvine City News

Mailing Address
5319 University Dr.
Suite 440
Irvine, CA 92612

Contacts

Jacob Levy, Editor and Publisher / editor@irvinecitynews.com
Advertising / ads@irvinecitynews.com  /  949.296.8338
Terms of Use
© COPYRIGHT 2016. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • SPECIAL REPORT
  • PUBLISHER'S NOTE
  • FEATURE
  • BUSINESS
  • CITY
    • AROUND TOWN
  • COMMUNITY
  • OPINION
  • LIFE
    • EDUCATION
    • SPORTS
    • ENTERTAINMENT
    • RECREATION
    • DINING
    • TOP 10
  • About
    • PICK UP A PRINT COPY
    • COMMENT POLICY
    • Contact
    • ADVERTISE