Building a 21st Century Learning Environment

Reimagining new environments tailored for small learning communities.

Numerous renovations have taken place since the completion of our Bayshore Campus in 1929, but none have fully prepared the Academy to meet the demands of providing a modern, technology-driven education. Our plan, developed through years of study and preparation, reimagines spaces within the school to accommodate new paradigms in teaching and learning.

The redesign of the Bayshore building into small learning communities includes distinct and expanded academic areas. New spaces further enable us to integrate STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) into our curriculum while adding STEM-focused areas.

During the summer of 2014, the Academy converted two Media Center computer labs into the Innovation Lab--more commonly referred to as the iLab. The iLab was established as a pilot space, allowing students and faculty to manage space, technology and information to drive their own learning. With the evident success and popularity of the first Innovation Lab, a second iLab, the SYKES Innovation Lab, was created during the summer of 2015 and is located on the second floor of the main building.

The iLabs demonstrate how education and spatial design can work in harmony and how new teaching and learning methods benefit from spaces specifically designed to fit a new model of education. The layout of the labs better meets and personalizes the diverse needs and learning styles of 21st century students. New approaches to curriculum and teaching techniques supported by modern classroom design and technology enable collaboration between students and teachers.

Phase 1 of the project was the construction of a 230-spacre parking garage. The garage enables the school to accommodate more student-drivers and provides additional visitor spaces on the Bayshore side of campus.

To accommodate both the garage and The Bailey Family Center for the Arts, two basketball courts and two tennis courts have been relocated parallel to MacDill Avenue.

The Holy Names Heritage Center’s mission is to preserve, interpret, communicate, and promote the significant stories, historical development, and social impact of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary of Tampa. The Center serves as a permanent home that not only articulates the stories of the Sisters, the school, and the relationships within the community, but also a place that celebrates and informs the present and the future as our history continues to be written.

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The 40,000-square-foot Bailey Family Center for the Arts features a 350-seat theatre and a state-of-the-art teaching and learning environment. Within the theatre, there is a control room with an Allen & Heath sound board, and Eos light board, electronic fly system for scenery adjustments and storage, and a state-of-the-art communication system built into the tech booth. In the upper level, there is a spot room for follow spot lights. The facility also includes choral, instrumental, theatre, dance, and 2D and 3D art classrooms, two kiln rooms with 4 kilns total for ceramics classes, a photography dark room, a Maker Lab to enhance STEAM curriculum, an Arts Commons area and gallery space.

The Center provides a space for the Academy to enhance a STEAM education program that integrates the study of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics into a unified curriculum, and allows the Academy to expand its course offerings for those who want to develop their artistic talents. Course offerings include both drama and technical theatre, allowing students to offer multi-day production runs and experience a professional theatre experience.

In August 2017, the school revealed its 30,000-square-foot middle school building for students in grades 5 through 8. New learning studios replace traditional classrooms and learning commons allow for both group and individual study. Technology includes 26 Epson short throw interactive projectors, 17 50” LED web TVs, 43 Apple TVs, two MakerBot 3D printers (six throughout school), one 3D scanner and 20 Lightspeed Flexmike audio mics for learning studios.