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UCI, Anteater Learning Pavilion

12/27/2016

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UCI designs and builds for its future

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ARTIST RENDERING OF THE $66 MILLION ANTEATER LEARNING PAVILION COMING TO THE CAMPUS OF UCI
By ​Irvine City News staff
Construction began in December on a new, $66 million high-tech classroom building on the UCI campus. Called the Anteater Learning Pavilion, it’s designed to accommodate the University of California, Irvine’s burgeoning student population and to facilitate collaborative, multidisciplinary teaching and learning. Occupancy is expected by spring 2018.
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“A central pillar of our strategic plan is to foster excellence in teaching and learning,” said UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman, as quoted in a UCI press release. “That commitment is now exemplified in this magnificent building, which will feature lecture halls, impromptu conferencing spaces and the latest technology.

The 70,000-square-foot building will serve the full range of active-learning and academic tenets of the university: exploring, discovering, advancing theories, testing ideas and collaborating.

The classrooms extend to interior and exterior community spaces, providing students with choices for group work and social connection, according to architect George Shaw of LMN Architects.

The building features two floors of day-lit classrooms and circulation areas (the mixing hall), and a third level that houses student offices and computer labs. Natural light filters through the exterior sunshade latticework to the mixing zone’s circulation and collaboration spaces. Accessed from large campus plazas on two sides, a series of community spaces capture expansive views of Aldrich Park and the campus landscape, creating an interconnected indoor-outdoor student experience.

The project is composed of three primary elements: a two-story elliptically shaped pavilion housing lecture halls; a three-story classroom wing framed with a continuous student mixing hall; and the bridge, a central vertical circulation and gathering space that connects the functions of the two primary structures.

The Anteater Learning Pavilion is part of a construction boom addressing the growth of student and faculty populations and research endeavors projected in UCI’s 10-year strategic plan. Recent additions include the six-story Mesa Court Towers housing complex, and the on-campus headquarters for the Division of Continuing Education, which offers community programs and classes. An art museum and a nursing school building are also in the works.

The new classroom space will be designed and equipped to promote active learning, in which students engage and participate more energetically with materials and collaborate with each other.

“Our faculty no longer expect – or want – students to simply listen to lectures, take notes and memorize facts,” said UCI physics and astronomy professor Michael Dennin. “In order for our students to be prepared for a complicated and competitive world, they have to be ready to understand and demonstrate processes, analyze arguments and apply what they’ve learned to real-world situations.”

In keeping with UCI’s focus on sustainable construction, the facility is expected to earn LEED Platinum certification upon completion. The builder is Hathaway Dinwiddie, and the architectural firm is LMN Architects.

The two firms have collaborated on other design-build projects at UCI, including the addition to the Paul Merage School of Business and the recently completed Department of Continuing Education Classroom Building.

“UC Irvine was one of the first U.S. campuses to institute design-build delivery, and over several decades they have developed one of the most sophisticated and well-defined design-build processes in the industry,” said Rashmi Mehta of Hathaway Dinwiddie in a company statement about the project. “Based on best design and best value, UCI’s system provides a unique opportunity for flexibility and creativity in the design process, which has resulted in high-quality yet cost-effective, sustainable architecture on their campus.”

The design-build method of efficiently completing new buildings has many advantages over traditional design-bid-build methods. Traditional design-bid-build is a sequential process where the owner first contracts with a design professional to prepare detailed, ready-for-construction plans and specifications, then uses the detailed plans and specifications to solicit competitive price bids for construction, and finally awards the construction project to the low bidder.

Experts say that design-build may result in earlier completion and occupancy of the project, because there’s no down time between completion of design and start of construction for the bidding and contract process.
The design-build contractor can begin construction of early infrastructure phases of the project before design of later phases is complete.

Some argue that it was the design element of the original Orange County Great Park process that took so long and cost so much, but the designers were contractually bound to complete the design documents before construction could commence.

In retrospect, design-build may have been a more efficient method, though historically California public contract law has not favored design-build contracts. Perhaps future city of Irvine projects, such as the Cultural Terrace at the Orange County Great Park, should be evaluated to see if design-build is a viable option. It seems to work well at UCI.
 
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Open Letter, Terry Walker

12/1/2016

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Open letter from IUSD Superintendent
Terry Walker

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Irvine Unified School District Superintendent Terry Walker sent this important letter to IUSD families. In case anyone missed it, we’re reprinting it here.
 
In IUSD, we enjoy a rich diversity of cultures, languages, religions and viewpoints. We know that this diversity enables our students to understand and embrace our differences – it is our strength. We also know that our students need to hear and to see examples of respectful dialogue and discussion. They need to trust that they can express their ideas without fear of censure or retribution. IUSD staff is committed to the values of equity and inclusion, which means supporting the right of all students to express their feelings and opinions, respectfully.

This past election year offered many teachable moments. Our educators have facilitated thoughtful discussions in classes throughout our schools. However, the tone and tenor of the current political discourse has raised concerns for some of our students and their families. These concerns have been communicated to the District Office and to our schools. The sentiments expressed stem from what our children have observed from an election that was, at times, uncivil and contradicted the respectful exchange of ideas we expect from our children at school and at home.

While we must refrain from endorsing any political point of view, we do have a responsibility to ensure our campuses are safe and that our students are respectful of each other. To this end, all IUSD schools implement what is known as Positive Behavior Interventions Support (PBIS). Among the many benefits of PBIS, it establishes values, expectations and guidelines for positive student behavior, irrespective of the behaviors students may observe through the media and in our society today. PBIS is a constant on IUSD campuses and our staff has continued to remind students about the importance of being good citizens who represent respectful and appropriate interactions with their fellow students and those in our community. We will not tolerate bullying or discrimination for any reason in our schools.
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Please take a moment to discuss the importance of respectful dialogue with your children and we will continue to do the same at school. If your child needs support or help expressing any concerns or fears he or she may have, please contact your school principal or school psychologist. You may also contact the Irvine Family Resource Center for additional resources. The safety and wellbeing of our students is our top priority.
Thank you for your continued engagement, partnership and support, which enables IUSD to best serve our students.
 
Sincerely,
 
Terry L. Walker
Superintendent of Schools,
Irvine Unified School District
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Irvine Schools, Grammy Award, Music Educator Award

12/1/2016

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Irvine Unified schools make beautiful music

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WOODBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL, A 2016 NATIONAL GRAMMY SIGNATURE SCHOOL
By Irvine City News staff
​Winning a GRAMMY award is a really big deal. Conductor Georg Solti has won the most ever, with 31. Quincy Jones and Alison Krauss are tied for second at 27. Irvine already has a National GRAMMY winner: the Woodbridge High School music program. Now there’s a chance to add another. Sierra Vista Middle School music teacher Henry Miller is a semifinalist for the national GRAMMY Music Educator Award presented by the Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Foundation. Mr. Miller is one of 25 semifinalists chosen from 3,300 nominations. Being named a semifinalist is a tribute to his dedication to teaching, and to the excellence of the music program at Sierra Vista and throughout Irvine Unified School District.

The Music Educator Award recognizes current educators (K through college, both public and private schools) who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools. The folks at the GRAMMY Awards explain it well:

“For every performer who makes it to the GRAMMY stage, there was a teacher who played a critical role in getting them there. And really, that’s true for all of us who are making music today. Maybe they introduced you to your first instrument. Or they showed you how to get over your stage fright. Or maybe they just inspired you to have the confidence to go for it when you were ready to give up.

It’s time to say thank you to all of those teachers who put in all of those hours to make sure that all of us love and play music today! And who better to do that than the people who bring you the GRAMMY Awards?”

This year’s 25 semifinalists come from 25 cities across 16 states. Five of them are from California, and two from Orange County (Keith Hancock of Tesoro High School in Rancho Santa Margarita is the second, along with Mr. Miller).

The 2017 winner will be announced in December, and will be invited to Los Angeles during GRAMMY week to accept the award, attend the GRAMMY Awards ceremony and receive a $10,000 honorarium. The nine other finalists will each receive a $1,000 honorarium, and the schools of all 10 finalists will receive matching grants.
This isn’t the first time Mr. Miller and the Sierra Vista music program have been in the news recently. Kevin Miura is a talented, dedicated and hard-working violin prodigy who attends Sierra Vista Middle School. Kevin, who also studies at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, competes in international music competitions, including placing second at the Menuhin Competition in London, a prestigious international competition for youth violinists. His playing so impressed at the event that the teenager from Irvine was awarded a special prize: a two-year loan of a Stradivarius violin.

“He’s probably the best musician I’ve ever taught; he’ll probably be the best musician I will ever teach,” Mr. Miller told the OC Register.

Hopefully, he’ll join the ranks of Irvine Unified School District’s GRAMMY winning Woodbridge High School, which was named the 2016 National Grammy Signature School for its outstanding music program. It’s one of the most prestigious accolades in music education.

In 2016, the GRAMMY Foundation presented Signature School awards to just 13 schools across the nation. The top three schools were designated Gold recipients. The best of the Gold recipients, Woodbridge High School, was named the National GRAMMY Signature School.

The top honor was the first for an Irvine school, though IUSD’s comprehensive high schools have received 12 Gold and Signature Grammy awards.

And the year before, in 2015, Irvine, Northwood, University and Woodbridge high schools were among 119 schools nationwide selected as semifinalists the GRAMMY Foundation, making IUSD the only district in the nation with four schools with this designation.
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Perhaps we should add “Best Music Education in the Nation” to Irvine’s many other superlatives that help make it the best place to live anywhere.
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