The Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board voted unanimously on Oct. 1, 2019 to name Kiva Elementary School the sixth school to be renovated as part of a 2016 voter-approved bond proposal.

District staff recommended Kiva, 6911 E. McDonald Drive in Paradise Valley, at the Sept. 17, 2019 Governing Board as the next school in line for rebuilding/renovation, following the district’s annual school capacity analysis, according to a press release.

Kiva Principal Alice Spingola named a 23-member visioning committee in March to represent Kiva stakeholder views to architects Orcutt Winslow. The board selected the Phoenix-based firm on Feb. 18 to provide architectural services for the project.
Its first task is to lead the community feedback process that will help guide the architects as they define a collaborative design for Kiva’s reimagined campus.

Using a similar process employed last year with the Cherokee Elementary School rebuild, the architects worked virtually with parents, Kiva teachers and staff, as well as the community, through a series of virtual meetings. As each conversation occurs, the vision for what Kiva will become moves more into focus.

Five virtual meetings have taken place so far, with the meetings alternating weekly between at-large virtual meetings open to anyone and visioning committee discussions during which committee members process and prioritize the public input.

Orcutt Winslow’s lead architect for educational institutions Tom O’Neil is heading up the project. He said the virtual design process is helping keep the Kiva project on schedule.

“The community is able to give more attention to the material we are presenting in these virtual meetings. Participants actually feel more comfortable about sharing their feedback in this manner,” he said in a prepared statement.

“Architects are problem solvers by nature and having the right hardware and software tools available makes us confident that even through these very interesting times, we are able to provide transparency and collaboration very successfully in a virtual environment.”

The visioning committee established memorable goals for the project with the help of live opinion polls, idea collection and data visualization capabilities from software such as Mentimeter, JamBoard and SketchUp.

These goals are the criteria that the architects will ensure are represented in the design concept. Through the virtual collaboration meetings, the Kiva community has articulated the following aspects it would like to see in its updated school:

• A design that prioritizes student and staff safety and wellness;
  Flexible, modern indoor and outdoor learning environments;
• A building design that fits into the school’s surroundings;
• A plan that addresses campus access issues for pedestrians, bicyclists, school buses, parent drop-off/pick-up and parking; and
• High-performance structures, emphasizing energy efficiency and that accommodate technology needs

More virtual meetings are planned before Orcutt Winslow presents its recommendation to the Governing Board on whether the school should be renovated, rebuilt or some combination of the two.

Community and visioning committee documents for the Kiva project and other related details are on the district’s website. Kiva Elementary was built in 1957 as a K-8 school. Its most recent update took place in 2002.