Mancos School District K-12 Campus Additions and Renovations
Located in the southwest corner of Colorado, Mancos sits in a broad valley between Mesa Verde and the San Juan Mountains, within a landscape shaped by generations of Indigenous communities, ranching, agriculture, and trade. The town takes its name from the Mancos River, recorded during the Domínguez–Escalante Expedition of 1776, while the surrounding valley later gave its name to the Mancos Shale that defines much of the region’s geology.
Founded in 1894 as a service and trading center for nearby farms, ranches, timber operations, and mountain communities, Mancos developed a strong culture of independence, resourcefulness, and close community ties. Those qualities continue to shape the school district and informed a campus-wide effort to support contemporary learning while respecting the scale, history, and character of this distinctive southwest Colorado community.
Mancos School District RE-2A received a Colorado Department of Education BEST Grant (Building Excellent Schools Today) to address a long list of safety, security, and facility deficiencies that had developed over several years across the aging campus. Because the work touched nearly every campus facility, the grant created an opportunity to collaborate with the district in envisioning a campus plan that resolved their current pain-points, while creating the framework to grow and adapt to future changes.
A primary project goal for the district was to eliminate the cost of relocating students, and maintain district operations throughout construction. To achieve this, construction was completed in three phases over the course of two years. The design was organized into four coordinated project packages aligned with the construction sequence:
Elementary School addition and High School interior renovation
Historic Gymnasium additions and renovation
Performing Arts Center additions and renovation
New athletics complex, including an artificial-turf field, synthetic track, concessions and locker-room facility, and stadium bleachers
*Work was completed by Max McCloskey while employed at RATIO.
