Bulldog Tech was Evergreen School District’s experiment with cutting-edge 21^st century learning environments.  A “school within a school” as part of LeyVa Middle School campus, it consists of paired classrooms that support team teaching and collaborative project-based learning.

The keystone of the campus is the double-sized high-performance classrooms that house two full-size classes, with two teachers, plus aides. The room is replete with technology—smart boards, tablet and laptop carts. With teamwork and flexibility as design drivers, flexible and ergonomic furniture supports multiple classroom configurations and allows the “front” of the classroom to be anywhere.

The buildings all open to a well-appointed outdoor teaching area, where small to large groups could gather and work together. The by-products of this improvement is a 2% increase in Average Daily Attendance (ADA) amongst this cross-section of LeyVa students. Recent surveys from students report that there has been a significant improvement in student attitude, participation and citizenship.

The school has been featured by San Jose Mercury News, KQED, Huffington Post and the TODAY show. As part of its Healthy, Wealthy & Wise series, TODAY revealed that the U.S.’s Smartest City is San Jose, Calif. and evidence of this is shown through schools like Bulldog Tech.