CARLSBAD–Following the groundbreaking earlier this year of what will be one of San Diego County’s largest and most state-of-the-art high school athletic centers, Pacific Ridge School is now celebrating a historic fall athletics season.
The Carlsbad nonprofit, independent school’s Girls Cross Country team repeated as CIF Division V champions, with five runners finishing in the top 10, and its Boys Cross Country team earned a fourth place finishin the CIF division championships. The girls teamss qualified to compete at the state level, earning a 10th place in its division. The Girls Varsity Volleyball team finished a strong season by competing for its first CIF championship, losing only in the final match.
Since opening in 2007, Pacific Ridge School has earned nine championship trophies. More than 80 percent of Pacific Ridge School students participate in sports, with the middle and high schools offering 12 sports and 43 teams, including basketball, volleyball, flag football, lacrosse, cross country, soccer, tennis and golf. Pacific Ridge School was also the first school in San Diego County to adopt the Positive Coaching Alliance, a program out of Stanford University which develops an “Honor the Game” culture amongst students, parents, and coaches within the school community.
Earlier this year and in response to growing student participation in athletics, Pacific Ridge School broke ground on a 35,236 square foot Athletic Center. The new building, slated to open in spring 2012, will include three regulation basketball/volleyball courts, a training room, yoga studio, state-of-the-art weight and conditioning room, coaches’ offices, locker rooms and showers, kitchenette for concessions, bleachers capable of seating 500 fans, and an outdoor viewing deck of the synthetic turf field. The lobby will also act as a Hall of Fame, showcasing trophies for athletic, academic, and arts achievements.
The Athletic Center, designed by Carrier Johnson and Culture, was designed for community events beyond athletics and will include an operable dividing curtain between courts, acoustically absorptive wall panels, and a curvilinear lobby with an informal seating area.
The facility will adopt many of the design elements of the school’s High School building, with simple and functional features such as passive cooling and ventilation, solar tubes and skylights, and retractable walls that open the lobby to the outside. The construction project is managed by the Downey Group, and built by J.E. Grant General Contractors, Inc.
