Modernizing and Designing Schools for the 21st Century

"The number of American schools that area physically worn out is nothing less than a national embarrassment. Other areas cannot build schools fast enough to keep pace with growth. I am fascinated to see how an alternative physical structure can be used to teach principles of geometry or physics. The Clinton Administration wants to explore new ways in which to engage the American people in the process of designing schools that can be vital centers of the community."

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley

Our nation's schools are facing crucial challenges these days: a rapidly growing student population that is already overcrowding our schools, and deteriorating facilities in urgent need of replacement or major repairs. Many existing schools are too large and impersonal, and not conducive to safety and discipline. Action is being taken to address this problem, by building new, state-of-the-art schools for the 21st century. Thousands of schools will need to be built during the next 10 years and nearly as many will need to be renovated. These schools will need to last at least 50 years. They will leave a lasting legacy today that will influence the future in education. But the need does not lie solely in the physical building. The demand to build more schools is being driven by the need to reflect the many changes in curriculum, teaching practices and new advances in technology that are fundamentally changing American education. As important is the need to fully engage parents, students, teachers and other community members in the planning and design process to allow them to see schools as true centers of community.

Some facts:

• The General Accounting Office (GAO) estimated that the cost of bringing the Nation's schools into good overall condition was $112 billion.
• The GAO reports revealed that one-third of all schools, serving 14 million students, need extensive repair or replacement.
• The American Society of Civil Engineers says that school construction is now our nation's most urgent infrastructure need.
• About 60 percent (including some schools in a generally adequate condition) of all schools report needing at least one major building feature to be replaced or extensively repaired.
• 28,100 schools serving 15 million students have less-than-average heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems; 23,100 schools serving 12 million students have less-than-adequate plumbing; and 21,100 schools serving 12 million students have less-than-adequate roofs.
• Elementary and secondary enrollments will swell from 52.2 million in 1997 to 54.4 million in 2006. State and localities will need to build some 6,000 new schools to serve additional students in the next decade.
• Students in school buildings that were in poor condition had achievement 6 percent below students in schools that were in fair condition and 11 percent below students in schools in excellent condition.

Some good examples:

• When Phoenix Capitol Elementary School decided to build a new facility, it had more to consider than its educational program. After more than 60 years on the same site, the school had become a stabilizing force in this inner city, urban neighborhood. Accustomed to walking their children to and from school, parents often stayed to socialize with neighbors. By designing a new campus that met the needs of both the students and the neighborhood, the district successfully kept a community and tradition in tact. Educational structures surround the entry court. Facing inward on the campus, classroom pods provide for small groupings of students around interior multi use common areas separated by operable walls. Spaces can be quickly reconfigured for maximum flexibility and learning opportunities. Unusual site considerations included a small site (under seven acres) and the need for the existing school (sited on what would be the new play fields) to be occupied during construction of new school. At the center of the academic area on campus is the media center, with an open-structure dome, painted a soft yellow that pays homage to the school's namesake and neighbor, the Arizona state Capitol building.
  CONTACT: Jennifer Watts, 1130 North 2nd Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 257-1764

• Gateway Elementary, Middle and Michael Schools are the new schools that make up the St. Louis Public School's math and science magnet complex. The school is a living, learning laboratory where exploring outdoor nature paths and planting gardens are as common as textbooks and classroom discussions. Even the walkways and playing grounds offer learning opportunities. The Gateway School complex focuses on providing "real-life" learning experiences for students from preschool through middle school with a math and science emphasis. The 19-acre complex accommodates more than 1300 students, with buildings for both elementary and middle schools, and a replacement for The Michael School (a facility for orthopedically challenged students). The schools join to form a rectangle encompassing an open outdoor courtyard that serves as a place where classroom instruction about science and math comes to life. All grade levels share common areas that include the library, cafeteria and gymnasium. Interactive displays and exhibits are located throughout the complex, and there are computers in every classroom, science laboratories for each grade level and math computer laboratories in the elementary school.
  CONTACT: Ruth Wood-Steed, Kennedy Associates Inc., One Metropolitan Square, 211 N. Broadway, Ste.1900, St. Louis, MO 63102, (314) 241-8188

• The new Winter Springs High School was designed to function as an educational, cultural and recreational activity center for the entire community in Seminole County, Florida. Adaptability, flexibility, simplicity and logistics were primary concerns to the design team, and they responded with a Non-traditional Academic Simplicity that would achieve the school district's goals of community interactive education as an essential learning partnership. A central main entrance leading into the Administration area provides control and security to students and visitors entering and leaving the campus, as well as complete visual access for the staff to the entire campus. Also located at the front of the building are the Sports Complex, state of the art Cafeteria, Media Center and fully equipped Performing Arts Center. The courtyard provides a comfortable setting for a variety of uses. The vocational educational classrooms include Florida's first plumbing lab. The classrooms and laboratories are housed in four academic clusters to allow for: flexibility to assign each cluster by grade or by curriculum; growth potential and decentralization of student population; windows and views of the outside; more efficient, flexible and functional spaces. A technology rich environment was created with the Media Center as the core. The flexible communications and information network integrates voice, data and video and employs instructional application and multimedia programming. Every classroom has a phone and a television that is connected to a sophisticated phone and video headend system. It also links the school to the districts wide-area network.
  CONTACT: Yvonne S. Garvin, Schenkel Shultz Architecture, 200 E. Robinson St., Ste. 300, Orlando, FL 32801, (407) 872-3322