KIPP DC Legacy College Preparatory
KIPP DC, a prominent local public charter school, received approval to redevelop the District-owned Legacy College Preparatory school. The site is to provide District residents with a new, fully modernized Ferebee-Hope Recreation Center and a high-quality public charter high school in Ward 8. In addition to the recreation center and school, the Ferebee-Hope site will include shared spaces for public meetings, community gatherings, and events.
Additional programming space for the high school site will include a running track, a playing field for sports such as football, soccer, and lacrosse, spectator seating built into the topography, a small concessions building, and an outdoor classroom located within a bio-retention area.
The new state-of-the-art high school will educate approximately 900 students from grades 9 through 12. It will offer rigorous college and career preparatory academic programming alongside various extracurricular programs and wraparound services.
Back-of-house programming includes the gymnasium, cafeteria, lecture hall, and outdoor terrace. The regulation-sized gymnasium features high-performance LED lighting, and the outdoor patio features a floor-to-ceiling, high-performance, glazed storefront window system that enables views of the gym and the lobby below. The inviting space is a large student commons seating area that overlooks the fields.
Attractive, durable, and easily maintained finishes are always challenging in a high school project. At the new KIPP DC Legacy College Preparatory School, Studio Twenty Seven Architecture used a pattern of brightly colored acoustical panels by Kirei USA to enliven the walls and control noise in the cafeteria and central staircase. Kinetics provided the ceiling and wall panels in the auditorium. The warmth of natural wood greets students entering the lobby space. The lobby stairs and ceiling are European white oak by reSAWN TIMBER. You can’t beat polished concrete floors for an attractive and durable floor surface throughout the building.
Ferebee Hope Recreation Center: A new DC DPR Recreation Center is co-located on the site and includes an indoor pool, boxing, and a full-sized gymnasium. As part of Mayor Bowser’s initiative to reclaim vacant sites, DGS is reactivating this site in Ward 8. As part of the high school redevelopment, the recreation center co-located with DPR will manage the facility. Open to the public; it will help Washington Highlands and future students thrive. The facility includes a multi-purpose room, indoor pool, boxing ring, and a full-sized gymnasium.
Ferebee Hope is a new redevelopment of a 12-acre site and includes a new recreation center and redeveloped outdoor spaces. Additionally, a new 120,000 SF state-of-the-art high school is being built for KIPP DC. The recreation center is collocated with DC DPR.
