Arcadia High School still going in circles

Arcadia High School is known for its circles. A circular library was the Phoenix campus’s centerpiece when the school opened in the fall of 1959, surrounded with a hoop-shaped, two-story classroom building.

A few rectangular buildings, including a cafeteria, were scattered around the campus, but even the administration building was a series of three circles set together.

All but one of those original buildings will be gone when students come back in the fall, with classes instead meeting in the red brick buildings that have risen to ring the campus.

“We took that circle concept that we’re known for and the students love ... and we brought all the classrooms into it,” said principal Anne-Marie Woolsey during a tour of the new buildings Wednesday.

Arcadia, 4703 E. Indian School Road, is one of five high schools in the Scottsdale Unified School District, all of which will be under construction this summer.

Work at Arcadia started in 2005. Classes have met in temporary spaces, including the school’s old cafeteria and auxiliary gym, to accommodate that work, Woolsey said.

But the end is in sight — construction is set to be completed by September 2008, with only the sports facilities left to deal with when school resumes, said Dave Peterson, assistant superintendent of operations for the district.

The original buildings that are still standing, including one-fourth of the old classroom ring and the administration building, will be gone soon.

The circle of classrooms coming down was a point of contention in the community, said Barry Paceley, an Arcadia parent and chairman of the district’s bond oversight committee.

“They were so upset with the circle coming down,” Paceley said. “I think they will be so excited when they see what’s going up, all that will be washed away.”

And the most recognizable circle at Arcadia, the school’s original round library, is staying.

Built on huge stilts, the circle looks vaguely like a spaceship that landed in the middle of the campus. The bottom was enclosed to make it a two-story building early in the school’s history.

But when the construction is done, that addition will be gone and the round building will be returned to its original state, Woolsey said.

The top will become a space for teachers to do professional development activities, while the bottom will be a sort of outdoor Memorial Union for students and the centerpiece of a huge courtyard, she said.

“Students at lunch time, they can have concerts and stuff,” Woolsey said. “We’ll eventually be able to do graduations there.”

While the classrooms are no longer in an actual circle, the circle concept is still evident. All of the rooms feature windows that either look into the center of the courtyard or look out from the center.

The circle concept also is evident in the new cafeteria, which has a round wall that juts out to face the courtyard.

Several large windows frame the future courtyard. A couple garage-sized doors will be installed and opened up when the weather is nice, Peterson said.

The school also will have what Woolsey described as a “grand entrance” — the parking lot will slope up to a staircase leading to the front office. Paceley said the staircase was his favorite feature of the campus. Arcadia will look like a “real high school,” he said. “This anchors our neighborhood,” he said. “Not only is it our namesake, it anchors our neighborhood.”

Around the Scottsdale Unified School District

An update on construction projects at the district’s other four high schools:

CHAPARRAL HIGH SCHOOL Completion date: July 2009. A new academic building will be ready in time for next school year and the new gym should be done by the winter. The old gym is coming down this summer with three new academic buildings being put in its place.

CORONADO HIGH SCHOOL Completion date: December. The only construction projects left are the new auditorium and special education building. After that, new baseball fields will be installed.

DESERT MOUNTAIN HIGH SCHOOL Completion date: April or May 2008. The smallest construction project in the district is work on an expanded dining area, which will start this summer and continue into the school year.

SAGUARO HIGH SCHOOL Completion date: April or May 2009. A new administration and classroom building should be finished this summer, and work will then start on another classroom building.