October of 2018, campus was buzzing with planning and construction activity as the General Lafayette building began its transformation toward becoming a brand new, state-of-the-art Innovation Center! This exciting new center is enabling Pathway to take “STEM for all students” to the next level.
Innovation remains central at Pathway enabling us to better serve students with special needs. Years of visioning, planning, and research by administrators and board members culminated in a two-phase plan to expand our student body and revitalize our campus. The Innovation Center, our new flagship building, opened in time for the 2019-2020 school year. Pathway’s President and CEO David Schultheis says, “No other school does what we do.”
That was true before work began on the Innovation Center. It is more true now. The center itself is an innovative concept, designed, built, and equipped to support ongoing innovation by and for Pathway students. In every way possible, the center provides an environment that is conducive to learning, accommodates special needs, and encourages teamwork. Principal Nina Prestia is excited that the facility can extend existing programs from STEM to life skills, job skills, and entrepreneurial thinking. We are able to provide students with hands-on, experiential learning, as well as the tools and resources, to learn creative problem-solving and to be successful in the 21st century world in which they live.
The Innovation Center features a maker space for creating and learning using technology; a media center for video production; an eSports lab for competitive e-gaming; an engineering, tools and tech space; a classroom focused on the sciences; a culinary arts room with a student-run café; an interactive energy corridor with Pavegen™ flooring; and a multi-use dining and presentation space.
Our long-range plan also includes renovating additional buildings and addressing other improvements campus-wide. Stay tuned for more exciting news about Pathway’s growth as we continue to focus on helping our students achieve their full potential.
This article was originally included in our 2018-2019 Annual Report.