Naukati & Howard Valentine

Prince of Wales Island, Alaska

Two K-12 schools serving small communities on Prince of Wales Island were designed in a prototype model. Naukati School was designed and built first. Howard Valentine followed two years later with minor programmatic and functional changes. The school design featured cedar siding to enable local small mills on the island to bid the work. The facilities serve both the community and the school district. As such all spaces have a dual purpose. The gym functions as a community gathering space and has an attached kitchen that serves school lunches as well as community meals. The school library also serves as the community library. The classroom wing was separated from the gym and library area by a sliding barn door so that evening activities could occur without allowing access to classrooms.