How the MOA reinvented Mental Health Support for Academy Traverse

At a time when children faced not only academic pressures, but also mental health crises, anxiety and depression with unimaginable trauma of school shootings and loss of suicide, architecture would rarely be the first thought of conversation. But at Moa Architecture, it is more than a simple structure. It is an intervention, supported by a careful design.

The company based in Denver, known for its thoughtful and centered human design, recently carried out a pilot project with Cherry Creek School District: Traverse Academy, a day treatment installation held and operated by a public school district. The project was not only another commission. For the MOA, it was a mission. And for the president and director of the design of health care, Katie Vander, it was deeply personal.

“After Covid, suicide has become one of the main causes of death among students in certain districts, “ she said. “And in Colorado, the number of installations for mental health care for young people has decreased. We knew that something should change”, “ Said Vander Putn.

Crossing Academy is a therapeutic school environment for students from 4th to 12th year who experience acute mental health challenges, from severe trauma to transient anxiety. It merges clinical treatment through education in a safe and favorable environment designed not only for learning, but for healing.

Split in three levels: severe, moderate and transitional, the building was designed with intention at each stage. Severe wing supports students recently out of clinical installations. The moderate level reintroduces academic routines as well as therapy. Transitional spaces help students reintegrate into their original school environments while receiving continuous support.

What makes the academy so revolutionary is not only its objective; This is the way it was designed.

The MOA did not start with a traditional floor plan. Instead, they spoke directly to the students and imagined a “ day in life ” Walking in the doors for the first time, maybe after a traumatic experience.

“Children would not want to enter a cold waiting room with fluorescent lights,” Vander Putn explains. “Imagine them in a space that looks like a coffee, welcomed with warmth. You can go out, take a walk or have an art course. It is a question of regaining control of their environment, their choices and their future.”

The design team has profoundly considered two types of responses in trauma in children: internalists, who can withdraw and self -manner, and externalizers, who act physically. To accommodate both, the spaces include everything, soothing corners with natural light with punching bags, climbing walls and color coded wings which visually signal progress and success.

Each material, color and arrangement has been sought through a lens focused on trauma. “There is data behind everything,” Said Vander Putten, whose history is in health and trauma environments. “Even up to the wooden tones on the walls. If that does not reflect what you would find in the wild, it actually agitates the nervous system.”

One of the most powerful aspects of the project is his reimagination of how these spaces should be. “We wanted the students to enter and think: they built this for me. They care about me,” Said Vander Putn. “When children feel respected by their space, they are less likely to play. They feel proud, and that counts.”

The establishment also allows students to move fluidly between different learning and therapy methods. Some may be there for a few weeks, others for a few months.

Since the opening of the Academy, the MOA has been speaking on a national project: during education conferences, AIA events and in architectural circles. But now the team wants to go further: they want to help other schools to adapt these principles. “We know that all districts cannot build an installation from zero,” Said Vander Putn. “But with reflective adaptive reuse, you can create refocusing rooms, therapy areas and transitional spaces in existing schools. You can make significant changes without starting from zero.”

Despite the success of the project, the funding models remain a barrier. Medicare and Medicaid restrictions complicate public-private partnerships and many schools are struggling to obtain investments. Cherry Creek’s efforts have forced the district to hire its own clinicians, develop its own coverage for professional misconduct and to operate independently of traditional hospital systems. However, the success of the Academy Traverse proves what is possible and urgent.

As Vander concludes, “We want to honor them by ensuring that it is not unique. If we can help another district, in our own way, help save one more child is worth everything.”