The surge of technology use in the 21st century is providing an opportunity for school facilities to reevaluate the value and definition of educational place. Traditionally, schools have served as places for information finding, project creating, publishing and presenting student work. They have evolved into places to support technological tools…

The UK has a strong tradition of community education and there is no better time to re-establish the school or any learning facility as a potential hub or resource for its local learning community. LearnSpace demonstrates the power of a range of professionals working together in a dynamic way that shows that learning can take place in a variety of…

With the help of close to $30 million in grant monies from Career Technical Education (CTE) and Overcrowding Relief grants, and Joint-Use and High Performance grants, Lake Tahoe Unified School District and architect LPA, Inc., have already completed a CTE "Green" Construction and Transportation Academy, a new classroom building and the…

One of the fastest growing trends in school design is Net Zero Energy Schools. There are now at least a dozen or more schools completed or in construction that have achieved, or have committed to, this incredible level of energy efficiency. In this article, the author examines this trend and take a brief look at some of the exemplary projects that…

Dr John Mayfield, PhD (Harvard) was a leader in education as a teacher, inspector, administrator, author and instigator of ideas. He was recognised as being visionary and yet realistically practical. He was involved in the planning and governance of public and private schools and in the design, financing and management of education buildings for…

The Bailey Yard is the largest rail classification yard in the world, stretching eight miles across the western prairie at North Platte, Nebraska. Trains leave Bailey Yard everyday--coal trains, grain trains, manifest trains--and each one represents a train prototype. Minneapolis Public School buildings are like a manifest train, where the…

A child starting school today won't leave until 2023, by which point who knows what technology will be commonplace? Schooling must become more flexible and therefore more engaging and interesting. Classrooms worldwide remain largely traditional, and technology is usually prescriptive. It is clear that bold action is required to improve STEM…

The New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority (NMPSFA) is the agency responsible for administering state-funded capital projects for schools statewide. Post occupancy evaluation (POE) is the tool selected by NMPSFA for measuring project outcomes. The basic POE process for V. Sue Cleveland High School (VSCHS) consisted of a series of field…

Recognize we still have a massive job of educating all the critical stakeholders, especially those with administrative decision-making and fiscal responsibility. Understand the potential for LEED and CHPS to enrich the educational delivery process. Ultimately, the goal is to provide the best learning environment possible. Work to optimize the…

Our community has faced many challenges since May 4, 2007. The rebuilding of all the town's school facilities was just one of them. However, as we approach the end of the first year in the new building, we are happy with the outcome. The facility already feels like home.

Each educational environment exhibits a distinct personality that supports and influences the student body. As educational institutions develop new spaces and buildings for university and college campuses nationwide, the need increasingly arises to provide spaces that both help fulfill each school's educational mission and reinforce the vitality…

More now than ever, our schools need to reach out and engage students. Dropout rates are high, achievement lags and increasingly students view schools as out of touch with their lives and their futures. Solutions to these problems are complex but I believe that making learning environments reflect student attitudes and perspectives plays an…

Over the last 40 years, researchers and educational facilities professionals have learned more about the ways in which the built environment of the school serves as a place where students construct their identities, where occupants create communities for learning, and where the outside community provides both context and support for the schools…

There has been a slow but steady increase of research on the impact of public school facilities on educational achievement and community outcomes and of the rigor of the research. This summary of studies is part of a larger literature review conducted by the 21st Century School Fund with funding from the Charitable Trust of the Council on…

An increasingly complex global environment, with its corresponding international connectedness as well as competition, challenges educators to rethink curriculum, instruction and assessment through the lens of the 21st Century. High-skilled, technology-driven jobs and careers require individuals who possess deep content knowledge as well as soft…