The exterior of Sierra Lutheran High School’s Pastor Julias “Juls” Clausen Memorial Center addition will be complete with a large electric cross.
Photo by Jessica Garcia.
Sierra Lutheran High School’s first major capital expansion will be complete this spring.
The school’s new multipurpose hall and academic center will feature rooms incorporating augmented reality technology, collaboration spaces to support student learning and faculty facilities.
Pastor Micah Glenn, head of school, said the project’s expected completion in May is exciting.
“It just brings me so much joy,” he said. “I brought a group of students through a few weeks ago and got to explain to them in this space — and most of them were sophomores — of what the rest of their high school career will be like here. And to see them begin to talk about it, I dream about what it'll be like to be in this part of the building and how much better their time in high school would be because of it. It’s just awesome.”
The project, called Phase 2a, was announced in 2021.
Architecture firm Van Woert Bigotti completed the design with civil engineering firm Manhard Consulting. Metcalf Builders has been working in phases on the project with a crew of about 40, according to project manager Chris Bonafede.
The new multipurpose room adjoining the school’s main building has been named the Pastor Julias “Juls” Clausen Memorial Center, or nicknamed the “PC” Center. The room honors a Sierra Lutheran principal who retired in 2017 after four years as head of school. It offers a capacity of 400, enough to enhance various teaching formats, special events and performances and doubles as a cafeteria. Student-led chapel services that traditionally have been held at the campus’ neighbor Hilltop Church will be accessible in the same space, the school’s baccalaureate service will be moved from its gym to inside the PC Center.
“We want to have as much of the community in here as possible and use it reasonably that it matches, obviously, what our mission is,” Glenn said.
The PC Center will give students charging stations for electronic devices or counter space for activities. Monitors mounted on walls will display multimedia presentations or serve audiovisual needs.
Bonafede praised Van Woert Bigotti’s creative touch.
“This phase was an interesting design by Van Woert Bigotti our architects going with that round look, and then the recessed windows to bring light in,” he said. “It was really done with a lot of thought.”
The academic building will offer six classrooms. Sierra Lutheran will be the first to offer augmented reality technology through which students can use computer-generated digital content or sensory concepts and create their own models in an interactive environment. The technology and licensing is based on similar products that some universities are using and Sierra Lutheran is in negotiations to bring it to its campus.
“It will project visual images on all the walls and ceilings,” Bonafede said. “It’ll literally feel like you were walking, say you want to go Pompeii? You’ll feel like you’re walking in Pompeii.”
An anatomy lab will enhance the school’s students’ science, technology, engineering and technology offerings although it also wants to make sure it remains inclusive of its arts component as a STEAM school.
Overall, Phase 2a will boost the school’s enrollment by about 100 in the next few years, although Glenn said the school already has plans for a subsequent project.
Sierra Lutheran board members, staff and community members held a groundbreaking ceremony in May 2024 to kick off the capital project.
“We just want to continue to think about ways that, you know, we're not competing with other schools in the area,” Glenn said. “We're just trying to be who we are, provide high-quality education, but most importantly, just be a space that young people want to come and learn cool stuff. It's a blessing on the hill.”