Jason Duran 
Justin Johnston 
Table of Contents
What started 25 years ago as a single campus in San Antonio has now expanded into a network of public and early childhood schools across Texas. Following the success of its initial open-enrollment public middle school, an elementary and high school were added a decade ago, leading to the recent acquisition of new land and the grand opening of Sherman Inspire Academy in Sherman, Texas, this upcoming school year.
We wanted to reimagine education globally and with intentionality, and it was quite an undertaking. Now, that doesn’t mean everything has to be fresh and new as much as there has to be a cause and an intentionality behind everything that we’re doing here.
This approach required a different way of looking at education, how it’s delivered, the setting it’s delivered in, and how students engage and interact with the learning. Here are five principles that we kept in mind as we planned out our learning spaces (and that we plan to use for future schools as well):
1. Understand the inherent uniqueness of every learner.
Being intentional requires a different approach to instruction in a school system where not every student’s development will naturally align with a specific grade or level. For us, it makes no sense for kids to be placed into groups based on their ages. We all learn at a different pace and speed, and we all develop differently.
2. There are four core themes worth learning.
While integrating the state-identified standards, we carefully design learning experiences to develop students across four different themes: relationships, systems, change, and future. We truly focus on what’s worth learning for the students. By making learning relevant to their lives and the world around them, we lay the groundwork for students‘ success in college, in their careers, and throughout their lives.
3. Furniture really matters.
Our team put a lot of effort into selecting and installing furnishings and fixtures that would actively support their unique pedagogical approach and flexible learning environment. We’ve learned over time that furniture really matters, and that it’s possible to have a school with the wrong furniture in it. However, it’s much easier when spaces are designed with furniture that’s aligned to the academic outcomes and future-ready skills that you’re trying to achieve.
4. Design for what you need inside the space.
Our furniture had to keep with our new institution’s core focus on intentionality. This way of thinking helped us avoid the trap of putting flexible furniture into fixed spaces (and vice versa, in certain cases). For instance, putting cool, modern furniture into an area meant for direct teaching isn’t always the best approach. You can make a mistake on both ends. Your furniture can be too flexible, and it can also be too finite. The trick is to make sure that you’re designing for what it is that you actually need inside the space.
5. Find a design partner that understands your vision.
We partnered with MiEN to help create and achieve our vision for learning spaces. That decision paid off because they turned out to be a very responsive and receptive partner that acted as a collaborator throughout the process. It’s a real relationship; it’s not one-sided. Our representative is always available and even came to help us assemble furniture when it arrived onsite. They also understood the school construction process and the various surprises and delays that can occur on the road to completion. Whenever we wanted to do something a little different from what was being proposed, our partner listened to our needs and made the necessary changes.
Built on Purpose
As we look around at the new space that will be bustling with 500 students this fall, we really like how students will have access to different types of modern furniture and tables to congregate and collaborate. We also expect the common areas to be extremely popular among students, who like gathering in comfortable, inviting spaces. Our goal was to make those areas inviting and comfortable, and we feel like we’ve achieved that mission.
Finally, we really like how the entire building and everything in it were designed with intentionality. No features were left out, and everything that made it into the design is there for a reason. Every space is functional and furnished with intention and purpose behind what we want to accomplish there.
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