Arabia Mountain High School

Lithonia, Georgia

Arabia Mountain High School sits on the edge of the Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve in Lithonia, Georgia. Designed as a LEED Silver building, the building is oriented with the classrooms facing north and south with large expanses of glass to capture the view of the preserve, allow natural light deep into the classrooms and maximize energy efficiency. Bioswales along the building capture the rain water from the roof drains and clean the run-off before it is returned to the natural stream system. The façade of brick and metal panels provide a fresh look for this sustainable high school, while high-performance glass and overhangs help minimize energy consumption. The building acts as a teaching tool. Arabia Mountain High School uses the State Education and Environment Roundtable's "Environment as an Integrating Context Model" (EIC) to center student learning in the context of their community and natural surroundings.

The building is divided into three smaller learning communities that support various career and technical pathways and magnet programs in environment/agriculture, family/consumer services, healthcare, business/computer services and engineering/technology. A continuous spine with shared science and career tech labs runs adjacent to the smaller learning communities. Assistant principals and counselors are distributed throughout the learning communities allowing supervision and support to be readily available.

Arabia Mountain is a high school that proves innovative in both its educational planning and sustainable design. Its integration of space, learning, and the environment make it a standout school in the Southeast.