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8.28.2025

KIPP Capital Region Cuts Ribbon On Brand New High School

Beginning in January 2021, CSArch led a planning study that evaluated feasible options for a new high school to serve the KIPP Capital Region community. After a survey to parents in 2023 revealed an overwhelmingly positive response to the possibility of a space for all KIPPsters in grades 9-12, the vision to create KIPP Capital High School became an exciting reality.

Now, over four years later, the 95,980-square-foot, three-story high school is officially complete and ready to welcome its first group of students and faculty at the start of the 2025-2026 school year. To celebrate this exciting milestone, CSArch proudly joined students, faculty, community members, and local leaders for a ribbon cutting ceremony on August 27th.

“KIPP Capital High School has been a dream on the horizon for a very long time,” said Stephanie Valle, CEO of KIPP Capital Region. “It will be a beacon for the Capital Region and scream from every inch of its almost 100,000-square-feet that our students are brilliant and that the transformative impact they will have on our area will be without match.”

    Members of the CSArch design team gather for a group photo on the learning stair of the new KIPP Capital High School.

    With capacity for up to 800 students, the new high school incorporates general classrooms, science labs, and art and music classrooms to support current and future programming. Breakout rooms, computer media and innovation labs, and a large group instruction (LGI) space promote immediate and long-term flexibility, which was a key goal of the project. Community spaces like the cafeteria and learning stair foster collaboration and offer additional areas for performances, presentations, and public events.

    This milestone is the culmination of a true collaboration between KIPP Capital Region and CSArch’s in-house architects, educational planners, MEP engineers, and interior designers, who ensured every design decision was purposeful and intentional. From the incorporation of an expansive, open cafeteria and learning stair as a focal point of the building to the careful selection of colors, furniture, and materials, the design maximizes flexibility and long-term adaptability to support future-focused instruction. The seamless integration of new chiller technology, displacement ventilation, distributed pumping, and heat pumps for combined heating and cooling promotes energy efficiency and ensures occupant comfort in every space.

    “We often say at CSArch that relationships are the first thing we build, and that couldn’t be more true with KIPP Capital Region,” said Michael Andrews, Managing Principal at CSArch. “I’m proud of the team that was put together to work on this project, including educational planners, architects, interior designers, and talents engineers who brought the best of their abilities to KIPP Capital High School.”

    Check out the recap video from the ribbon cutting ceremony on August 27th.

    Behind the Design Video Series | Architecture 
    Behind the Design Video Series | Engineering
    Behind the Design Video Series |Interior Design

    The project team included the following team members, whose contributions were critical to the success of this project:
    Owner    : KIPP Capital Region Public Schools
    CSArch Design Team    : Daniel Woodside, Executive Principal; Michael Andrews, Director of Operations & Project Manager; Melissa Renkawitz, Educational Planner; Zachary Malison, Director of Engineering; Ashley Sheehan, Director of Interior Design; Ronald Bagoly, Design Principal; Craig Zygmund, Building Designer; Cheryl Buchanan, Senior Building Designer; William Preskenis, Building Designer; Afton Beattie Buser, Interior Designer; Michael Strohecker, Mechanical Engineer; Rachel Ault, Mechanical Engineering Designer; James Barrett, Senior Electrical Engineer; Kenneth Hopeck, Electrical Engineering Designer; Nicholas Hopeck, Engineering Designer;  
    Owner’s Representative: Level Field Partners
    Clerk of the Works: William R. Sweet
    General Contractor: BBL
    Sub-Consultants: MJ Engineering & Land Surveying, Civil Engineer & Landscape Architect; Ryan Biggs Clark Davis, Structural Engineer; Engineered Solutions, Fire Protection Engineer & AV/IT/Security Consultant; Cavanaugh Tocci, Acoustics Consultant; Food Service Design Studios, Food Service Design Consultant