D.M. Therrell High School

As part of Atlanta Public Schools’ high school transformation to Smaller Learning Communities, D.M. Therrell High School has been redesigned to operate as three independent academies. This project marks a new beginning for D.M. Therrell High School. The original structure was typical of school design in the late 1960’s - inward-looking and fortified with little natural daylight reaching classrooms or circulation spaces. The new design ‘opens’ the school locating classrooms, media center, offices, and arts facilities around a new front courtyard.

The old buildings were renovated and incorporated into this campus plan. Each floor of the new classroom block houses an academy which includes 12 generic classrooms, four science labs, two computer labs, career tech labs and an administrative suite with principal, counselors, and support staff. Flanking the renovated existing gym is a new gymnasium to one side and a cafeteria/media center to the other. The new cafeteria/media center facility and the three-story academic building form one edge of the courtyard which serves as a campus quad. This 180,000 square-foot new construction/60,000 square-foot renovation facility is targeting LEED Silver certification. What once was an internalized and inefficient building is now an academic campus designed for student success.