For 20 years, the author has promoted constructing today's schools with the future in mind, yet as many school districts begin planning for the year 2050, he is starting to think this foresight/forethought might actually be a distracting course of action. Some districts may try to plan so far into the future that they neglect the present. But,…

When the Orange County School Board (Orlando, Florida) decided to build a new high school, they recognized Central Florida's high technology emphasis as a special challenge. The new facility needed to meet present instructional demands while being flexible enough to incorporate 21st century technologies. The final result is a new $30 million high…

Describes the partnership between high-tech industries and the schools in Orlando, Florida, which resulted in the planning and development of a $30 million high school known as "The Educational City of the Future." (MD)

Describes how educational facility design impacts learning style needs that act as the basis for cognitive learning. Recommends involving cognitive learning specialists, interior environmental planners, and creative engineering personnel in the planning and design process to enhance learning, maximize technology use, and improve educational…

Change must be personally relevant, beneficial, clearly defined and believed to be achievable. To renovate school facilities, several steps are necessary: identifying future trends and making them personally applicable, establishing a realistic vision, creating functional facility goals, seeing the building as an empty shell, and considering…

Facility planning can be a catalyst for restructuring education by coordinating technology throughout the entire curriculum anticipated for the school. Describes a major high school renovation in Snoqualmie Valley, Washington, where a teacher-developed science curriculum became the basis for restructuring science and technology during the facility…

Discusses ways that schools can evolve to support new teaching and learning paradigms into the new millennium. Argues that 21st-century schools will be smaller, cheaper, and more efficient; simply constructed; revenue generators that are privately financed; integrated with social, governmental, and business entities; will provide multiple,…

Faced with increasing enrollment and state legislation requiring more laboratory work, this school system hired an architectural firm to devise a cost-effective "District-wide Science Facility Master Plan." The process of developing that plan and some of its conclusions are described here. Illustrations are provided. (DCS)

In order for technology to fulfill its potential for substantially improving school productivity, it must be an integral part of school facilities planning. This report tells how technology-specific issues fit into the more general business of facilities planning and management. Topics covered include the following: (1) a questionnaire to help…

Provides examples of middle school facilities design considerations for both new and remodeled buildings. Argues that the planning process is critical and offers advice including developing and reviewing the philosophy, selecting planning participants, conducting a Futures Workshop, beginning the process, planning at the microlevel, research, and…