Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts; Philadelphia
SMP Architects (in collaboration with SRK Architects)
The design team was challenged to create a small high school that would help students from low-income families succeed. They focused on keeping the floor plan inviting and transparent, to give students views of green roofs and artwork and chose a site near public transportation so it would be easily accessible. Since the building was completed in 2010, student truancy dropped from 35 percent to 0 percent, test scores quadrupled, and the graduation rate increased from 29 percent to 69 percent.