Spero Academy is a highly specialized, tuition-free public charter school, providing personalized and adaptive education to support students with various disabilities. A new Spero Academy 3-level campus is being constructed in Brooklyn Park to meet the needs of a growing student population for the surrounding communities.

Keeping with the identity of the Spero Academy in Minneapolis, some compositional integration and form are mirrored in the new campus. Student safety was paramount in the site design. Building form, site location, and passive and active design strategies were utilized to create a safe environment for the students.

In order to understand the specific needs of the staff and student population, DSGW toured the first Spero Academy and held meetings and interviews with a diverse stakeholder group made up of educators, specialty staff, and administration. A specialized consultant was engaged from the start to assist with considerations for materials, layout, acoustics, and lighting resulting in classrooms and spaces that are safe and clearly defined for different activities.