Faculty at colleges and universities across the nation are under pressure to provide engaging classroom environments suited to a diverse student population in order to increase student retention. Faculty professional development is often supported by Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTL). Larger, well-funded schools have created CTLs with…

The primary goal of this study is to examine green environmental practices exercised in maintaining healthy schools in Atlanta. A forty-item researcher-developed instrument was used to survey 30 randomly sampled schools in the Atlanta area. Five schools particularly strong in green environment implementation were visited to observe their green…

Green design, green construction, and green operations for new buildings are rapidly becoming the norm for school districts throughout the country. Today, increased availability of green products and technology coupled with cost savings that are realized through an integrated design process mean that schools like Arabia Mountain High School in…

Whether a campus is large or small, the idea of a 10-minute walk is an important human-scaled design standard that affects an institution in significant ways beyond just getting students to class on time. Designing a 10-minute walk seems like a simple exercise. Based on earlier information, all one needs to do is provide a walking surface and make…

When trying to reach their sustainability goals, schools and school districts often run into obstacles, including financing, training, and implementation tools. Last fall, the U.S. Green Building Council-Georgia (USGBC-Georgia) launched its High Performance, Healthy Schools (HPHS) Program to help Georgia schools overcome those obstacles. By…

Green design, green construction and green operations for new buildings are rapidly becoming the norm for school districts throughout the country. Today, increased availability of green products and technology coupled with cost savings that are realized through an integrated design process mean that schools like Arabia Mountain High School can be…

The playground is part of many students' school day, and sometimes the learning environment on the playground can be just as important as that in the classroom. Studies have shown that playtime can provide not only physical benefits, but also emotional, social and cognitive benefits to students. This article describes how to make playgrounds safe.…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare student achievement with three school design classifications: movement and circulation, day lighting, and views. Design/methodology/approach: From a sample of 71 schools, measures of these three school designs, taken with a ten-point Likert scale, are compared to students' outcomes defined by six…

Tritt Elementary School, a K-5 school in Marietta, Georgia, has a building designed in accordance with teachers' suggestions. Teachers are all treated with respect, most students do well academically, and parents are involved. (MT)

This paper discusses five key issues in the design phase of a construction project that can improve the quality, cost, or time of construction. These five ways are: education specifications, design standards, prototype designs, value engineering, and selecting a qualified architect. To facilitate discussion, the background section of this paper…

Discusses the financial strengths universities possess that can help them provide privatized on-campus housing that benefits the school and students while allowing a profit to the developer. Georgia's success in establishing a financial structure to develop apartment-style student housing that would allow no recourse against the state or affect…

This report presents the guidelines for site evaluation and approval as mandated by the state of Georgia. This guide may be used by the School Site Approval Committee when making school site evaluations for official approval, and also may be used by local school systems as they make preliminary determinations regarding the acceptability of school…

The Georgia State Department of Education recognizes two separate methods for utilizing construction management services by local school systems when state capital outlay funds are involved. This report details those two methods. The report first describes the Construction Management (CM)-Agency approach, which allows a CM-Agency manager to enter…

The preservation of school safety should be a primary commitment of all educators. This paper presents findings of a study that examined school facility safety in 27 Georgia schools. Data were gathered from a survey of 9 elementary, 11 middle, and 7 high schools in south Georgia. The surveys elicited information related to both school-site safety…

This document presents the space requirements for Georgia's elementary, middle, and high schools. All square footage requirements are computed by using inside dimensions of a room; the square footage of support spaces in suites may be included when computing the square footage of the suite. Examples of support spaces include storage rooms,…