LeyVa Middle School Modernization

Beginning as an ordinary project with a simple program and tight budget, the LeyVa Middle School Net Zero Administration Building is a testament to the importance of teamwork and communication in supporting innovative solutions. By asking the simple question of “How about Net-Zero?”, the Administration Building was transformed into California’s first Net-Zero Energy/Emissions (NZEE) public school building and later into a master plan that would tranform the entire campus.

Inspired by the successful completion of the new administration building as the first Net Zero Energy/Emissions public school building in California; one of the priorities of updating and implementing the Master Plan in 2011 was to continue to transform the unattractive LeyVa Middle School campus into a magnet. This was done by implementing a forward-thinking Bulldog Tech (A New Tech Network School) program and connecting students to the wider multi-generational and ethnically diverse community. The campus would no longer reflect the last 40 years, but shine a light toward the future by becoming a community asset.

Symbolizing the tradition of game-changing invention and thoughtful respect for local history, this all but forgotten campus continues to receive visitors yearning to take the lessons of transformation home with them. These visitors include: District and State-level leaders, design and teaching professionals, local news reporters and a wide variety of other Bay Area industries.