SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BUILDING GIVES A WINK TO THE PAST AND NOD TO THE FUTURE

Science and Technology Building Gives a Wink to the Past and a Nod to the Future

Nancy Fries

“Mr. Lopez!” a third-grade student exclaimed. “The building is winking at me!” With that observation, a quirk of the new Science and Technology Building became one of its most endearing traits. The architects of the building, which opened September 17, 2020, had vast experience designing schools, but they didn’t fully understand the essence of Pegasus.

“We told them all along we teach chemistry,” Head of School Jason Lopez recalls, “and they said, ‘We didn’t know you meant real chemistry!’” That slight misunderstanding necessitated two late-stage changes to the building design: the asymmetrical “winking” window on the front of the building to accommodate chemical storage in a lab prep room; and a single, rogue egress door on the wall adjacent to the parking lot. “The architect isn’t happy at all,” Lopez laughed, “and I love it because it is truly Pegasus!”

Indeed, Pegasus teaches real chemistry, and now, it’s taught in a real, hi-tech lab. “My prior classroom wasn’t up to the level of student learning we strive for at Pegasus,” said eighth-grade science teacher Lisa Calvin. “My new classroom has all the advanced lab features and technology any high school would be thrilled and lucky to have, from the high-tech safety features, to small group lab tables with lab sinks. These features will allow my students to experience a greater variety of experiments.”

Calvin’s classroom is one of fourteen in the new building, which also houses environmental science, robotics, Spanish, music, and more. Aesthetically, the building blends the campus’s existing mid-century style with bright spaces filled with natural light. Technologically, it will carry Pegasus well into the future.

“Learning can happen just about anywhere, but the educational experience is elevated when you give exceptional students great tools and a great environment,” Lopez said. “If our students can dream it, they now have the tools to create it.”

The Science and Technology Building is “the first big step toward matching the quality of the Pegasus campus with the exceptional quality of its educational program,” said parent Zach Fischer, who chaired the Roots to Grow, Wings to Soar Campaign. The Campaign garnered community support to fund the $15 million project, which will benefit every student at Pegasus.

Before the new building opened, Pegasus teachers were already so creative and innovative that our lower school students never realized they were learning science in a retrofitted former locker room. Eighth graders were so comfortable in English teacher Nancy Wilder’s “Den of Scholars,” they weren’t aware she’d had to relocate it four times. “The Den of Scholars is wherever we are,” Wilder says. Parents may have chosen the school for its engaging teaching, stimulating curriculum, and focus on 21st century skills, but let’s face it, the original campus was not the attraction. Built in 1959, the site was purchased by Pegasus in 1996 from the Fountain Valley School District. After the completion of the Palley Classroom Complex in 1998 and the Laura Hathaway Activities Center in 2000, this building is the first major construction project in twenty years.

“We now have so much flexibility and all this modern technology,” said computer science teacher Kathy DeBest, who cultivated our highly successful curricular and extracurricular robotics program, even guiding one after school team to the World Championships in early 2020. “We used to be hunched over in one area just to charge our robots, and now anybody can work and charge,” she said, referring to her dedicated classroom space for robotics with plenty of outlets, some even hanging from the ceiling.

“My old classroom was a cave with no windows,” said lower school science teacher Johna Bogue. “Now I am teaching in a beautifully lit and bright space with windows. I have ample counter space that allows the students to work individually and be much more engaged and creative. I am able to do more meaningful projects that we could not do before since we did not have the storage or room. In addition, I now have four sinks which the students can easily reach.”

Pegasus is unique in having designated science teachers by grade level, which allows each science classroom to be tailored to our curriculum, as well as our growing students. Sinks, counters and furnishings are scaled to serve our students from preschool through eighth grade. Other key features include the following:

• Energy efficient motion sensor lights • White boards or cork boards on every bit of wall space • Wired for sound with speakers, plus cameras, sound boxes and monitors for remote learning • CleverTouch interactive board • Safety features • Soundproof music room, closest to the theater • Mini outdoor amphitheater for classes and events • Designated space for computers and robotics • Outdoor patio with sinks and planter boxes for sixth-grade environmental science • Lab prep space between science classes • Chemical storage closet

Even the new parking lot reflects the school culture. Pervious asphalt allows water to drain through parking spaces into an underground water filtration system. “We’re taking the water, filtering it, and shooting it out down the street at certain times so it is clean when it goes to the beach,” Lopez said.

“It fits with our environmental program,” he added. But if you’re part of the Pegasus community, you already knew that. And you know that the winking building is also a heartfelt nod to the educational values Founder Laura Hathaway instilled in Pegasus.

Nancy Fries is a freelance writer, a college essay advisor, and the mother of Ian (’10) and Eric (’14). Contact: nancy@nancyfries.com