John S. McCain III Elementary School / Orcutt | Winslow

John S. McCain III Elementary School / Orcutt | Winslow - Interior Photography, Chair, WindowsJohn S. McCain III Elementary School / Orcutt | Winslow - Interior PhotographyJohn S. McCain III Elementary School / Orcutt | Winslow - Exterior Photography, FacadeJohn S. McCain III Elementary School / Orcutt | Winslow - Exterior Photography, WindowsJohn S. McCain III Elementary School / Orcutt | Winslow - More Images+ 21

  • Lead Project Designer: Kasey Josephs
  • Project Designer: Marco Rosero
  • Interior Designer: Vince Rieselman
  • Project Architect: Matt Johnson
  • Food Service: TriMark
  • City: Buckeye
  • Country: United States
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John S. McCain III Elementary School / Orcutt | Winslow - Image 16 of 26
Site Plan

Text description provided by the architects. John Dewey, at the turn of the 20th Century, put forth a vision for modern education and re-imagined a future in which schools “carefully balance the delivery of knowledge and learning through active inquiry”. John S. McCain III Elementary, the only school to be named after the late senator, embraces and epitomizes these ideals. The school is designed to support the C-STEM curriculum and also fosters social and emotional learning.

John S. McCain III Elementary School / Orcutt | Winslow - Exterior Photography, Facade
© Matt Winquist Photography
John S. McCain III Elementary School / Orcutt | Winslow - Exterior Photography, Facade
© Matt Winquist Photography

A community-led, collaborative, co-creation process was utilized to establish a design direction, embed the school into its larger context, and set up the school district for future success. The project had to overcome several challenges, the biggest of which was the COVID-19 Pandemic. Major design efforts had to transition to an online format in the spring of 2020, challenging the entire team to still maintain a holistic, community-driven/ co-creation process while maintaining safety.  

John S. McCain III Elementary School / Orcutt | Winslow - Interior Photography
© Matt Winquist Photography

The pandemic induced supply chain and labor shortages, and the resulting escalation in costs, the project ended up having to rebid, taking three months out of the construction schedule. In the end, construction had to take place in under 8 months! Despite these challenges, John S. McCain III is a successful learning community-based organization. There are three learning communities initially operated along traditional age-based grade bands. They can easily adapt to an ability-based cohort organized around pedagogies involving teacher facilitated-student directed learning.

John S. McCain III Elementary School / Orcutt | Winslow - Interior Photography
© Matt Winquist Photography

The learner-centric communities feature multi-dimensional infrastructures that support brain-based learning modalities and offer a high degree of flexibility, variety, and collaborative opportunities at multiple scales. High performance and biophilic design principles such as ample natural light, views, access to the outdoors, and balance of prospect and refuge, help cater to occupant wellness while creating a solid foundation for higher-order learning.

John S. McCain III Elementary School / Orcutt | Winslow - Interior Photography
© Matt Winquist Photography

The life, legacy, and ethics of Senator McCain are embedded through a branding strategy employing computational design, as traits for students to unpack through the course of their development and growth at the school.

John S. McCain III Elementary School / Orcutt | Winslow - Exterior Photography, Facade, Windows
© Matt Winquist Photography

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Project location

Address:Buckeye, AZ, United States

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "John S. McCain III Elementary School / Orcutt | Winslow" 02 Oct 2022. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/989818/john-s-mccain-iii-elementary-school-orcutt-winslow> ISSN 0719-8884

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