A Call To Redesign American Public School Facilities

The design and building of new schools is increasingly seen as an opportunity to encourage integrated planning and smart growth thinking.

1 minute read

March 10, 2004, 1:00 PM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen

It's time to blur the lines between school development and community development. Getting community residents into school buildings is a pivotal step toward building social capital. A focal point in the conversation about schools-as-centers is school facility planning. Given the major investment in school rehab and construction across the country, the Coalition for Community Schools with the KnowledgeWorks Foundation and the BEST Collaborative, on these issues, promoting the intentional integration of community school components into new buildings. "The push for increased community support and the creation of community/school partnerships has led, in turn, to new ideas about the planning and design of new school facilities. In the past decade, school districts have been hard pressed to meet the enormous enrollment demands of the "baby-boom echo." Even now in 2003 with enrollment leveling off at 53 million children, school districts will spend almost $29 billion to build approximately 1,580 new facilities."

Thanks to Chris Steins

FULL STORY: Schools As Centers Of Communities: KnowledgeWorks Foundation Concept Paper

Tuesday, March 9, 2004 in New Schools, Better Neighborhoods

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