Rio Salado College
IN-4: Innovation 4

Green Learning Campus: Rio Salado College is building a “Green Learning Campus” that will bring the first green charter high school to downtown Phoenix, as well as providing basic education and vocational training to the urban core. Students at the campus will have the option to receive both high school and college credit simultaneously through dual enrollment, giving them a very affordable head start on their bachelor’s degrees. Free Adult Basic Education programming, including basic skills, GED preparation, and English language acquisition, in partnership with the Arizona Department of Education, will also be offered. The campus will consist of four buildings – two existing buildings currently offer Adult Education, a new 14,000 square foot Adult Learning Center will be completed on November 2011, and at ultimate build-out, two 6,000 square foot, LEED Platinum Green Schoolhouses will bring the high school component to the campus. The high school focus will be sustainability, including organic gardening sustainable foods programs, recycling, and all aspects of sustainability. These programs will augment green vocational courses, such as weatherization, solar heating, cooling, and electrical energy generation, and other jobs focused tracks. The ALC building will be LEED Gold Certified, and will feature pervious paving, natural rock screen walls, gray water harvesting, local and drought tolerant plantings, and numerous energy and water conservation practices. The contractor has diverted 97% of all construction waste from landfills. The Green Learning Campus promises to promote an awareness and practices of sustainability to the urban core of Phoenix.