In many poor rural and urban school districts, aging buildings suffer dangerous deficiencies, without a sufficient tax base to fund improvements. President Clinton unveiled a $5 billion initiative that would fund a four-year repair and construction project for public schools; however, the plan must make its way through Congress. (MLF)

The new Alfred Elementary School in Alfred, Maine, complements the town's typical New England architecture. Behind the traditional facade is a modern school building with classrooms clustered in groups of three. The gymnasium and cafeteria stand together and can be kept open in the evening for community activities. (MLF)

Academic Building Systems (ABS) is an architectural planning and design method which allows the construction owner to respond to the need for less expensive structures, economically adaptable to the changing conditions of the academic world, by providing the owner with the maximum controls over the variable cost factors in educational facility…