There are numerous criteria to consider in the design of a K-12 kitchen and cafeteria. There is a lot of planning that should and must be done. It's a lot easier to plan for and provide the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, space, adjacencies and dur
In far too many places, Title I money is filling budget gaps rather than being used to close achievement gaps. In a plan for this year's reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, the Obama administration proposes closing the loopholes in the current compar
- By Michael Fickes
- 12/01/11
Retrofitting 
with window film is also a more cost-
effective option than installing new windows. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy's laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), says that &&a
No matter what your memories are of school days gone by, there can be little debate about today's need for improved building security. Meeting the need to protect students, staff and visitors requires the effective implementation of access control me
Today commercial grade windows for K-12 classroooms often include internal features that contribute to students' thermal comfort. One such feature is between-the-glass venetian blinds (sometimes called interstitial, internal or integral blinds).
- By David H. Martin
- 12/01/11
Modern K-12 school designs can take advantage of three different technologies that give schools forward-looking capabilities: administrative technologies, educational technologies and smart building technologies.
- By Michael Fickes
- 12/01/11
The EPA's first-ever federal guidelines for locating school facilities encourage high-performance schools, stress the importance of locating schools near populations and infrastructure and promote schools as diverse centers of communities. They urge commu
- By Sarat Pratapchandran
- 12/01/11
Risk and vulnerability for today's school environment is of great concern to not just school boards, administrators and teachers, but also to parents and other students. The technology behind IT security and vulnerability is often too much for a scho
school district has printers, copiers and multi-functional printers (MFPs) of varying ages and capabilities and contracts spread throughout the district. There's no real control over who uses them or how much they're used, and no one's keep
Can you build a new school today for the cost of a 1987 school plus inflation? Yes, you can but it's not likely to support a 21st century education. School districts could save money on initial costs by being "penny-wise and pound foolish." Judg
As energy prices continue to increase, K-12 schools look for ways to conserve energy and minimize their energy expenditures. A growing number of school districts have turned to engineers who use software-based energy modeling as a predictive and analytica
Some school districts have tapped the creativity of board members, architects and/or planners to restore, renovate or rebuild some their local structures to serve as educational spaces. Not only has this concept served them in the "green" sense
- By Peter Gisolfi, Bill Harris, Kevin Havens, Amy Jones, Andy Joseph, Adele Willson
- 11/01/11
Some school districts transforming their open spaces have looked up to their roofs. There's been plenty of activity up there, with districts transforming what can be a functional afterthought into a new asset in order to advance strategic goal
The K-12 school restroom, however mundane it may be in discussion, is an integral part of that school's community and total environment. Their design and construction rely on good but affordable materials, and planners and designers need to consider fixtu
Are your schools safe? Here's one district that's working to create a safe learning environment for its students, and how you can follow its lead.
It's no surprise that purchasers are demanding to know the complete story of a product and its impacts on the environment: What is the product's carbon footprint? To what extent did the product's raw materials extraction affect the ecosystem? Does the pro
From the reauthorization of the ESEA to the Super Committee's debt negotiations and appropriations bills, Fritz Edelstein gives School Planning & Management an update on what's going on in Washington.
- By Fritz Edelstein
- 11/01/11
Technology is coming for you. Resistance is futile. That probably describes the bias in the K-12 world toward classroom technologies. These technologies, like interactive whiteboards, do indeed hold great promise for teachers that embrace, study an
- By Michael Fickes
- 11/01/11
The design of a major new school is a rare event in the life of a community. In many places, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For Westbrook, the community and educators took to heart the task of creating a school that would serve as an educational
- By Daniel Cecil, Anthony Roy
- 10/01/11
Schools play a key role in our efforts to reverse the obesity epidemic by promoting physical activity, educating students on healthy eating and teaching them behaviors that will keep them healthier throughout their life. Unfortunately many schools
Facilities maintenance in combination with a robust oversight of an agenda of scheduled maintenance and inspections might be the best way to be proactive and prevent problems before they become problematic.