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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRHS street vacation support - RHS Safety and Belonging reportRENTON HIGH SCHOOL SAFETY AND BELONGING REPORT FALL 2024 This report provides an overview of the key takeaways from a Safety and Belonging Summit held on Saturday, November 16, 2024 at Renton High School. The purpose of the summit was to bring a wide range of stakeholders together from different backgrounds and perspectives to discuss a vision for safety and belonging at the new Renton High School. Summit participants included RHS teachers, parents, community members, and a student. The six-hour summit kicked off with a presentation of the vision for Renton High School’s expansion, including the project’s “North Stars” and the associated design implications. District staff shared important information on Renton School District’s existing security protocols and standards, including main entry layout guidelines and security response protocols. Presenters then provided an overview of key safety concepts with a focus on the principles of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED). Results of a recent CPTED assessment of RHS were shared, including recommendations around such areas as access control, natural surveillance, territorial reinforcement, maintenance, and social management. Following the presentation, Summit participants engaged in “World Café” discussion groups around six (6) safety-related topics, including: • Social Emotional Safety and Belonging • Community Connections • Wayfinding and Placemaking • Transparency and Visual Supervision • Access Control • Physical Security The following report summarizes overarching themes from discussions around each of the six (6) topic areas. The intent is that these themes shall be referenced by the design team when developing safety, security, and belonging approaches for the new Renton High School building and campus. Introduction ““One of the things that we see is, you know, if students come into a counseling area or a place where they need to have one of those private conversations, that they need to be able to leave that space and get either outside the school or someplace where they’re then not seen by other kids because they’re coming out crying or whatever.” ““(Regarding an) equity lens, we in the clinic space have really talked a lot about privacy, especially when all of your students know one another and can overhear. How important it is to create safe spaces that are actually, like relatively soundproof…making sure that we’re paying attention to sort of how sound translates across certain spaces.” “The people make the place safe. Like it’s more about being welcoming and talking to kids and not being afraid of them, but being able to, like, interact with them, relate to them. So I think adults have a lot to do with, like, feeling safe in the building, because you can’t really fake it with high school kids, and they’re gonna they know. They read right through you.”“ Social Emotional Safety and Belonging Balance Access to Social Emotional Supports with the need for Student Privacy •Consider strategic placement of resources like counseling and health services to make them highly visible, identifiable, and accessible but also afford a degree of privacy when needed. This includes visual and auditory privacy. •There is a delicate balance between maintaining a de - gree of privacy while not stigmatizing access to services. It is important to have a positive culture around social emotional health and wellness. Provide Spaces and Design Features that Foster Positive and Supportive Relationships between Students and Staff •Access to caring adults is crucial to fostering a culture of safety and belonging at Renton High School. Students’ inter- actions with teachers and staff influence the social emotional climate of the school. •Positive work environments for staff translate into better interactions with students. High school students can easily de - tect insincerity – genuine interactions with teachers and staff are crucial to building positive relationships. Include more warm, homey elements in spaces intended for student-staff connections, such as comfortable seating and personalized decor. •Teachers can shift the experience of education from fear to joy by supporting different learning styles and sensory needs, as well serving as a safety net for students. Look for design Bring Students Together to Promote a Sense of Connection •It is crucial to have a variety of designated spaces for students to gather, sit, and socialize. This allows students to develop a sense of ownership over certain spaces and build a sense of community. •Provide a variety of formal and informal display spaces and walls that students “own” where they can pin up materials. •Visual representation of different cultures, backgrounds, and social identities is key to creating a welcoming environment for all students. Celebrate the diversity of the student body. •Events such as Multicultural Week bring students, family, and community together. It is important to have facilities to support the activities and performances associated with this annual event. Promote Positive Sensory Environments •Ensure that the building is equipped to maintain comfortable indoor environmental conditions in learning spaces, including temperature, lighting, and acoustics. •Prioritize access to natural light via windows and skylights. Provide adjustable and temperate lighting; avoid harsh lighting which can overstimulate and make students feel physically unwell. •Recognize the psychological impact of color schemes when designing interior spaces. •Reap the social emotional benefits of nature by providing intentionally designed outdoor areas for students to gather or retreat, such as an enclosed courtyard, student garden, or inviting seating areas. Social Emotional Safety and Belonging ““Like a garden, yeah. I don’t know where that fits in. It certainly belongs in social emotional wellness, even just around the topic of like health and food security and growing your own food. Especially now how expensive things are; the food system is broken and all the chemicals…I could go on, but I think it’s also community, right? … a way for everybody that wanted to contribute to bring joy back to their day to day, you know? Like, there’s something about engaging with living things.” ““Like little window seats or something. That’s awesome. I mean, that’s like, you’re getting natural light and you have a place to sit, yeah? Just having lots of little enclaves where kids can congregate and create community without having to feel like they’re having to sit under the stairs because it’s the only place (to gather).” ““One thing I was wondering is, like, do you look at the neurodivergent population? Because if you (only) have places that you can be seen, then if you need that space to only be by yourself, how do you accommodate that as well?” ““We’ve got the new bathrooms in the gym, which are gender neutral bathrooms, (it) has been amazing. I was really concerned about it at first, but I didn’t realize how unsafe kids feel about using the bathroom because of kids starting filming each other in bathrooms. So they come down to the gym just to use the bathroom, which is annoying, but then I understand it, because they feel safe to use the bathroom there. It’s either like our bathroom, or they go to the nurse.” Support the Needs of Neurodiverse Students •Recognize and celebrate neurodiversity when designing interior spaces, with the ability to seek out and/or customize different sensory environments. •While gathering spaces are important, it is also imperative to provide smaller nooks, alcoves, or rooms where students can retreat, recharge, or self-regulate. Provide a range of semi-private spaces with comfortable furnishings to create a sense of safety and privacy. •Provide learning spaces and gathering areas with different seating options, giving students autonomy over their selection. Provide Restroom Supervision without Compromising Access and Privacy for all Students •Every student should be afforded a sense of dignity and privacy when accessing restrooms. Provide gender-neutral restroom options with individual stalls and for privacy and safety. •As restrooms can attract negative behaviors such as bul- lying or vaping, they must be positioned and designed to be easily supervised from adjacent areas. Social Emotional Safety and Belonging 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. Library Proper 2. Maker Space 3. Green Filming Studio 4. Digital Lab 5. Outdoor Terrace 6. Flexible Classroom 7. ASB Classroom Sliding glass doors expand the leadership classroom into the library foyer. Library is designed for all-staff meetings of 150 people and broader community events, effectively becoming the City of Snoqualmie’s living room. 1 5 6 AUTHENT A student in Architect’s o Transparency and Visual Supervision“It would be cool to make some of the learning really visible to our students, even kids walking down the hallway. Because there’s times where students, maybe that stereotypically, are known as the bad kids in the building, or something, are sitting and reading a book silently and beautifully, and it’d be really cool for their peers to walk by and see that. Or, like, they’re engaging this really deep conversation about a topic that they’re really passionate about. Or we’re making posters and we’re like, doing presentations on those things. Like, it would be really cool in my dream school to have, like, a classroom space where, you know, we’re learning. It’s like a very one-on-one type of learning setting, like the more traditional. But then there’s also space available where the learning is super on display, yeah? And people can walk by and see the interactions.” “ Highlight Positive Activities through Transparency •Making learning visible to students, even from corridors, can foster engagement and pride. Visible learning can attract students to CTE, visual and performing arts programs, extracurricular clubs, and other activities. •Maximize the level of transparency in the library to create a calm and connected environment. Position Spaces to Maximize Clear Sightlines •Design spaces with open sightlines to student gathering areas to promote passive supervision while allowing students a degree of autonomy. •Position restroom entries to be easily supervised adjacent areas (within direct view of staff). •Balance transparency with privacy in areas where students receive counseling or health services or other social emotional supports. Transparency and Visual Supervision Adopt a Balanced Approach to Transparency •Interior transparency and open layouts can promote passive supervision and foster student autonomy while minimizing the number of staff needed to effectively monitor a space. However, there are concerns about some students feeling exposed or vulnerable in classrooms with excessive interior windows, especially those dealing with trauma or adverse childhood experiences. •Incorporate the ability to control the level of transparency through window coverings and opacity controls. Consider use of electronic blinds or single-pull curtains for quick deployment during lockdown events. •Involve teachers in discussions around transparency. It will be important to understand the motivations behind teachers covering their windows and closing off their classrooms. Create an approach that acknowledges their lived experiences in the classroom. “I think [about the] windows, [and] safety and trauma informed... the whole wall of windows feels like very like it would be a problem... You can balance it with, like, opaque walls, and then to think about the seating. And, you know, where are the seats faced, compared to what is a window and what is a wall.” “ Intentionally Place and Design Core Spaces to Support Events that Bring in the Community •Recognizing that most families visit Renton High School to attend a performance, game, or formal event, the RHS campus should provide a variety of appropriately sized and designed performance venues, athletic facilities, and large group gathering spaces. •Provide adequate visitor parking that is located close to areas commonly accessed by the public, particularly the gyms, athletic fields, and the IKEA PAC. •Food has the power to bring people together and is an important part of cultural expression; consider ways that the facility can support this in a community context. •Design spaces that inspire a sense of community pride and allow voters to see the value of the school and campus to the broader community. •Provide spaces that invite use by community-based organizations, such as the Renton LGBTQIA+ community, Tomato/Tomato, local artists, etc. Community Connections Provide Spaces for Families to get Connected to Resources •Include spaces within the school to provide health services and other resources, supporting families and positioning students for success. Vaccine events have been an effective way to provide a vital health service to students, families, and local residents while letting the broader community know about the school. •Provide different display options for posting information on events and resources. Many families face language barriers that limit their ability to connect with the school. Support interactions with families in multiple languages and communication styles. •Provide services that benefit overwhelmed families struggling with work, child care, and other life stresses by expanding connections with outside mental health agencies such as KSARC. ““I’ve seen some schools will have like (the word) ‘welcome’ in different languages for their main entryway. So like, how are we actually welcoming?...It would be interesting to also have images. So if we’re talking about the gym entry, maybe there’s images of like people playing sports…and for the IKEA (PAC), there’s like images of performing arts.” Design Spaces that Celebrate the Diverse Cultural Backgrounds of Renton Students and Families •Utilize multilingual signage and iconography to help create a sense of welcome and belonging for all students and families. •Include a Multicultural Center or a focal point in the school that shares the message of “everyone belongs.” •Creating safe spaces where students of all backgrounds and social identities feel engaged and part of the school community. Intentionally Design Outdoor Spaces to Draw Families In •Include site elements that invite community use, such as areas designed for play or recreation. Such spaces can be designed to inspire a sense of whimsy and joy. •Provide amenities such as covered outdoor seating areas to make families feel welcome. Bring the Community in by Showcasing the Work and Talent of Renton Students •Identify opportunities to showcase student work and highlight various programs and pathways throughout the school to increase awareness and engagement. •Provide a gallery space that can be used for public events like student art shows. However, also incorporate student art throughout the building, not just in the “art hall”. Community Connections ““Like trying to be more inclusive for the timeline. I really appreciate how the morning announcements here (include) the land acknowledgement, and I think that’s really student-driven. And it seems really cool to kind of have a timeline to sort of pay tribute to that story. And also, just like, I didn’t know, the change of the mascot. I think that would be interesting for people to be able to understand.” ““What’s interesting about Renton’s current design is like the Commons, I think it does have like this ‘town’ feel to it. I love the Commons. Our teenagers do want their privacy. They’ll find their little nooks and crannies to like hide in. And that’s definitely the case still. And I’m always so amazed of how many kids just hang out in the Commons. Like it is a ‘pop-in place’ before and after school.” Incorporate Placemaking as a Theme-Based Design and Organizational Approach •Design spaces with unique visual identities to promote wayfinding as well as cultivate different environments. •Incorporate student-created artwork or displays to enhance wayfinding by highlighting key areas. •Involve students in color-selections, as there are generational differences in the perception and interpretation of certain colors. •Consider incorporating a prominent timeline as a focal point featuring the rich history of school site and building starting with the land’s ties to the Duwamish Tribe, Henry Moses, the history of the mascot change, and other events leading to the construction of the new building. destinations. Provide Inclusive Signage and Directional Prompts •Implement a layered approach to wayfinding with multiple strategies (e.g. color, words, symbols, icons, arrows). Such markings can help communicate a space’s location as well as its intended use. •A building that communicates behavioral expectations requires less staff monitoring, allowing them to be more available for positive interactions with students. •Organize spaces to promote an intuitive sense of direction that is accessible across languages and without words. Include welcoming statements and words of affirmation in multiple languages. •Enhance wayfinding by providing clear directional signage and/or maps (like a mall directory) illustrating one’s current location relative to popular campus destinations. ““Also like just walking around here (at RHS) and seeing sort of the different personalities of the teachers in their classes, and…each of the little door frames has kind of something unique about their teacher, or even a little bit of a sense of personality where it’s not so curated. It’s like there’s an organic feel to it.” “Actually, the first time I was here (at RHS) was in middle school. There was a robotics meeting here, a robotics competition at night. We were very confused, because, like it said it was in the Commons, but we didn’t know where the Commons was. We weren’t members of the school yet…and (later as a RHS student), I didn’t know where I was going, but I was able to memorize, like, where it was after a while. But freshman year was very confusing.” -RHS Student “ Wayfinding and Placemaking Thoughtfully Create an Improved Campus Arrival Experience for Visitors •Currently, first-time visitors to RHS encounter a confusing arrival experience. The redesign of Renton High School presents an opportunity to intentionally layout the campus in a manner that is intuitive for visitors, with convenient parking and well-marked pedestrian pathways visually directing people to a prominent main entry through use of lighting, pavement design, and prominent signage. •Visitor parking should be well marked and located next to main entry as well as near frequently used core areas such as the gyms, fields, and Ikea PAC. •Wayfinding strategies should factor in groups of people arriving on campus for different events held in opposite areas of the building or site. It is not unusual for athletic events to be held at the same time as an event at the IPAC. When this occurs, visitors are easily confused about where to go. •Common visitor destinations should be marked by large, prominent (even backlit) signage, with visual displays of images of the activities typically occurring that space (e.g. athletic images at the gyms, performing arts images at the IPAC). •Ensure that the new and old buildings have a cohesive feel and area easily navigated. Wayfinding and Placemaking Provide Signage and Wayfinding Strategies that are Customizable and Adaptable over Time •It is important to provide signage that is both flexible and adaptable, with the ability to be customized to reflect changing events and room usages over time. Use of digital signage may help achieve this goal. •Provide integrated display areas that can be changed out to reflect different themes, curated by teachers or students. “With this school, I was trying to find how to get into here. It wasn’t clear, because we were trying to figure out earlier today: ‘okay, do we go in the area that I know the students usually come in in the morning, or do we go to the front office area?’ But again, for someone who’s never been to this building, trying to find out, trying to determine where the main entrance is is difficult, because I would have thought that the main entrance is actually the stairs above where the main office is…so having a celebrated entryway, I think, is important. Having signage that says ‘here’s where you enter.’“ “Like a timeline… I think the history of the school, when I was here, we actually had to take Pacific Northwest history. We learned a lot about the Duwamish, and the teacher was good at connecting it to the school. So we understood kind of what the area was about. Just having that represented somehow, whether it’s a timeline or just like how the Duwamish donated their land for Renton and who Henry Moses is. A lot of our kids don’t know this. They know his picture is in the gym, but they don’t know who he is and what he represents.” -RHS Alumni “ “ Access Control Provide a Secure Main Entry that is Softened by Human Contact •Provide a single, easily identifiable, warm, cele - brated main entry leading to a secure vestibule that allows staff the option of safely intercepting visitors prior to granting authorization to enter the larger building. Families appreciate that a secure vestibule is there to keep their children safe and are generally accepting of such entry protocols. •Design an arrival sequence that allows students and families to have direct human contact as soon as they pass through the vestibule. It is important to have staff available to interact with visitors and provide a welcoming presence. •Design lobby and reception areas with cozy fea- tures to create a warm and welcoming environment for families. •Consider positioning an open area such as a com- mons near main entry; once a student, staff member, or visitor passes through the main entry vestibule and office, it feels welcoming to enter a large, vibrant and inviting space. •Provide a courtyard that is exclusively accessible to students, providing dedicated and secure access to an inviting outdoor environment. “It’s that human touch, like you’re getting to face another person instead of just walking in, taking a ride and you’re just, it’s wide open to you to go where you want to. I think kids will, I think kids will understand and they’ll know, like, okay, somebody’s thinking about, like, our safety more than the way it is now, yeah.”“ Create and Uphold a Culture of Safety among Staff and Students •Communicate check-in requirements for visitors via clear and prominent signage in multiple languages, including that identification is required to enter the school. •There is a need for clear communication and consistent application of security measures across the campus. For example, staff and teachers should promptly engage with unfamiliar visitors to ascertain their identity and purpose at the school. Students should understand that they are not to open secondary exterior doors for known or unknown students or visitors. These practices should be reinforced by prominent signage stating policies. Access Control Use a Mixture of Natural Elements, Landscaping, and Exterior Fencing to Define Campus Areas •Integrate exterior fencing in select areas with a preference for non-institutional fencing designs, for example, avoid chain-link fencing when possible. The appearance of fencing can also be softened by attractive landscaping and a colorful or non- institutional building exterior. Consider different fencing heights depending on if the goal is to fully block access vs. designating boundaries. •Use natural features to delineate different zones on campus, discourage access to restricted areas, and generally direct visitors to appropriate paths of travel. •There is great competition [from the wider Renton community] for certain athletic areas and amenities on the RHS campus, especially the tennis courts. Improved territorial markers and signage are needed to highlight school policies and ensure students have primary access to outdoor areas. •Consider including a fenced or fully enclosed courtyard that is exclusively accessible to students, providing dedicated and secure access to an inviting outdoor environment. “Yeah, they happen to bring up fences, because we don’t really have any fences around the school. Where you go to a lot of schools and they have fences. It’s, it’s kind of nice not to have fences, you know, because it’s kind of tradition that we haven’t had fences. You know, at the same but I think, like on the on the athletic fields, it definitely be nice to have fences, like we literally had to, like we literally had to chain up the tennis club because, yeah, tennis team couldn’t use them, because somebody just walked their dogs in there all the time. It was just everywhere” “ Physical Security Seamlessly Incorporate Physical Security Measures •Integrate physical security measures without creating a fortress-like environment. Avoid overly institutional design features, such as “spikey fences” or metal detectors. •Carefully consider placement and design of fencing or other physical barriers to avoid an institutional feel. Consider the impact of different types of fencing and their effect on the school’s appearance and security. •Consider providing a back-door entry for law enforcement to avoid situations where uniformed officers are visibly standing in the reception area requesting to interview a student. •Target hardening measures such as bollards should be appropriately positioned to protect the building against vehicle impacts. •Standardized door hardware across all classrooms and offices is needed to ensure that rooms can be quickly and effectively secured during a lockdown event. “I was also thinking yesterday, so yesterday I was here in the office, and two officers came in wanting to talk to a student that they had questioned earlier in the day. And so they were talking to the front desk about, like, let’s look up the name and see if we can find this person. And I did sort of wonder, like, instead of just walking in the front door and standing at the front desk to have this conversation, yeah. Could there be a back entrance or a connection to, like, the security office, or some way that this doesn’t have to, you know, because, like, I’m able, I didn’t even have a reason to feel threatened. But when you have police officers with weapons standing four feet from you, it’s like everybody feels a little bit unsafe, you know? I think a degree of privacy too, right? Yeah, yeah.” “ Recognize that Not all Students Experience Security Measures in the Same Manner •It is important to recognize that perceptions of certain security measures may be influenced by race and other social identities. Care must be taken to consider how BIPOC students and families experience incorporation or displays of physical security measures. •A diverse team of stakeholders should inform the design and implementation of security measures. Maximize Camera Coverage within the Building and Site •Cameras are a beneficial tool for deterring bullying and other negative behaviors, particularly in hard-to-view areas. They can be used to deconstruct events and hold students accountable for their actions. •Review camera placement and functionality to ensure they are serving their intended purpose without over-surveillance. It is important to place cameras strategically to deter unwanted behavior while maintaining trust. Ensure that exterior cameras are not blocked by overgrown vegetation. Physical Security “I also will say, we do work with teenagers, you know, and teens want to test boundaries, and they tend to do less of that if they know someone’s watching them, which, you know, in the classroom I’m watching you. Yeah, there’s some accountability there, but there are spaces where there aren’t always adults available, and students will be like, oh, there’s cameras there. We can’t do this, you know. And I think that’s helpful to give our teens some boundaries, of like, accountability. And I do worry as I’m not a parent, but as someone who loves my kids dearly, my students dearly, sometimes I’m like, what happens down this hallway where there is nothing, yeah, no cameras, and there are no adults, and we don’t really know what’s going on.” “ Prepared by BRIC Architecture, Inc.