The completion of the Maywood Center for Enriched Studies, a grade 6 through 12 magnet school, marks the end of Los Angeles USD’s 14-year effort to add 131 new schools. The building accommodates 1,200 students from Maywood and across the district.
Challenge: From 1980 to 2002, LAUSD faced a 200,000-student increase that forced many schools to adopt a 12-month system of three or four overlapping calendars that were shorter than the traditional 180-day, two-semester calendar.
Students living in and around Maywood were assigned to Bell Senior High, which operated on a year-round calendar for 36 years, says Elvia Perez Cano, communications and media relations for LAUSD facilities. This severely overcrowded Bell.
Solution: The new 203,035-square-foot building—with 51 classrooms (956 square feet each) and 1,425 seats—relieves overcrowding at Bell Senior High. It features plenty of natural light and flexible learning environments with easily moveable furniture.
The visually striking facility sits amid a 9.24-acre, university-like campus, highlighted by a cutting-edge visual and performing arts building and a 57,600-square-foot athletic field. The campus is also home to a support service center that includes a nurse’s office, library, and college career and wellness centers.
Additionally, the school doubles as a community center, so local residents have access to the wellness center. A single network supports multiple systems—including telephones and Wi-Fi—which reduces equipment, maintenance and infrastructure costs, such as trenching, conduit and cabling requirements.
Maywood’s solar system is expected to generate approximately 630,000 kilowatts a year, saving $115,000 annually in electricity costs.
Completion date: August 2017
Cost: $163 million
Project team: Architect: DLR Group (Los Angeles); general contractor: S.J. Amoroso Construction (Costa Mesa)
