Open-Door Policy

High schools have gradually morphed into community fitness, recreation and wellness hubs, providing space for everything from public nature trails to private kayaking lessons.

Alaska Kayak SchoolAlaska Kayak School The opening this fall of Vancouver, Wash.'s Eisenhower Elementary School, complete with a public park on its grounds, will mark the complete transformation of one school district's community presence. The ambitious campaign, which began in 1990 by overhauling some of the oldest, post-World War II school buildings in the state, has created public swimming pools at elementary and middle schools, nature trails that connect schools with public parks, intricate partnerships with area YMCAs and Boys & Girls Clubs, and sports fields shared with private and public organizations. This evolution - Tom Hagley, director of partnerships and public involvement for the Vancouver School District, might even call it a revolution - has provided a national model for schools to become full-scale fitness, recreation and wellness hubs in their communities.

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