In a time where children face not just academic pressures but increasing mental health crises, from anxiety and depression to the unimaginable trauma of school shootings and suicide loss, architecture would rarely be the first thought in the conversation. But at MOA Architecture, it is more than just a structure. It is an intervention, backed by careful design.
The Denver-based firm, known for its thoughtful, human-centered design, recently completed a pilot project with Cherry Creek School District: Traverse Academy, a day-treatment facility owned and operated by a public school district. The project wasn’t just another commission. For MOA, it was a mission. And for President and Director of Healthcare Design Katie Vander Putten, it was deeply personal.
“After COVID, suicide became one of the leading causes of death among students in some districts,” she says. “And across Colorado, the number of facilities for youth mental health care has dwindled. We knew something had to change,” Vander Putten says.
Traverse Academy is a therapeutic school environment for students in grades 4–12 experiencing acute mental health challenges, from severe trauma to transitional anxiety. It merges clinical treatment with education in a safe, supportive environment designed not just for learning, but for healing.
Split into three tiers: Severe, Moderate, and Transitional, the building was designed with intention at every step. The severe wing supports students recently discharged from clinical facilities. The moderate level reintroduces academic routines alongside therapy. Transitional spaces help students reintegrate into their original school environments while still receiving ongoing support.
What makes the academy so revolutionary isn’t just its purpose; it’s the way it was designed.
MOA didn’t start with a traditional floor plan. Instead, they spoke directly to students and imagined a ‘day in the life’ walking through the doors for the first time, possibly after a traumatic experience.
“Children wouldn’t want to walk into a cold waiting room with fluorescent lights,” Vander Putten explains. “Imagine them walking into a space that feels like a coffee shop, greeted with warmth. You can go outside, take a walk, or have an art class. It’s about regaining control of their surroundings, choices, and future.”
The design team deeply considered two kinds of trauma responses in children: internalizers, who may withdraw and self-harm, and externalizers, who act out physically. To accommodate both, spaces include everything from calming corners with natural light to punching bags, climbing walls, and color-coded wings that visually signal progression and achievement.
Every material, color, and layout was researched through a trauma-informed lens. “There’s data behind everything,” says Vander Putten, whose background is in healthcare and trauma-responsive environments. “Even down to the wood tones on the walls. If it doesn’t reflect what you’d find in nature, it actually agitates the nervous system.”
One of the most powerful aspects of the project is its reimagination of how these spaces should be. “We wanted students to walk in and think: They built this for me. They care about me,” Vander Putten says. “When kids feel respected by their space, they’re less likely to act out. They feel proud, and that matters.”
The facility also allows students to move fluidly between different learning and therapy modalities. Some may be there for a few weeks, others for a few months.
Since the academy opened, MOA has been speaking nationally about the project: at education conferences, AIA events, and within architecture circles. But now, the team wants to go further: they want to help other schools adapt these principles. “We know not every district can build a facility from scratch,” Vander Putten says. “But with thoughtful adaptive reuse, you can create refocus rooms, therapy zones, and transitional spaces within existing schools. You can make meaningful change without starting from the ground up.”
Despite the project’s success, funding models remain a barrier. Medicare and Medicaid restrictions complicate public-private partnerships, and many schools struggle to secure investment. Cherry Creek’s effort required the district to hire its own clinicians, develop its own malpractice coverage, and operate independently of traditional hospital systems. Still, the success of Traverse Academy is proving what’s possible and urgently needed.
As Vander Putten concludes, “We want to honor them by making sure this doesn’t stay a one-off. If we can help one more district, in our own way, help save one more child, that’s worth everything.”
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