New Construction
A new high school under construction in the West Fargo School District in Horace, N.D., will not be able to open in time for the new school year due to construction delays, according to officials. The district cites a number of issues “mostly beyond the contractors’ control” that will cause Horace High to delay its opening beyond Aug. 26, the district’s scheduled first day of classes.
COVID-19 and Schools
In response to the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19, the CDC once again updated its mask-wearing guidelines this week. It recommends "universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to schools."
New Construction
Santa Ana College, located in Santa Ana, Calif., debuted its new $60-million student center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the evening of Tuesday, July 27.
Campus Renovation
The California-based building company C.W. Driver Companies announced this week that construction is complete on the Mt. San Jacinto College (MSJC) Temecula Valley Campus in Temecula, Calif. The 350,000-square-foot campus is the first permanent institution of higher education in the city.
Higher Ed Survey
The results of a new survey from JLL have revealed that campus cleanliness and indoor air quality now rank among the top factors in college selection. JLL, a Fortune 200 commercial real estate and professional services firm, surveyed about 500 parents of tenth- through twelfth-grade students about their priorities while considering higher education destinations.
New Construction
Groundbreaking has taken place on a new elementary school in Amesbury, Mass. Construction of the Sgt. Jordan Shay Memorial Lower Elementary School was approved by city residents in 2019.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 07/23/21
Campus Expansion
A charter school in Florida is seeing the sun rise on a new middle school. The middle school at Ocean Studies Charter in Key Largo is expected to finished by Thanksgiving, allowing the free public charter to enable its existing K–5 students to continue their education at the same facility.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 07/23/21
Campus Renovations
A college in Huntsville, Ala., has just undergone a $6 million renovation. The first guests in the 100-room facility at Oakwood University will be high schoolers attending Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering (ASCTE), which draws students seeking advanced engineering and cyber technology studies.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 07/23/21
A new survey reveals that within the last 12 months, 93% of schools experienced an emergency incident due to an infrastructure malfunction.
New Construction
The University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz., recently broke ground on a new Applied Research Building. The three-story, 89,000-square-foot facility will bring together eight departments from four colleges for a cost of $85 million. The building is expected to open to students by spring 2023.
Campus Renovations
Spalding University in Louisville, Ky., received a $2 million grant this week from Kosair Charities for its new School of Physical Therapy. The funds will be used for an ongoing renovation project converting a campus building into the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program’s new home.
New Construction
Construction has begun on a new academic building, Milgard Hall, on the campus of the University of Washington Tacoma in Tacoma, Washington.
Campus Renovations
West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas, has announced a total of $18 million in renovations spread across four regions of the campus. All renovations are slated for completion by August 2021, in time for the beginning of the 2021–22 academic year.
Campus Facilities
Commercial washrooms solutions company Bradley Corp. recently announced the redesign of its Mills Phenolic No-Site Partitions to eliminate gaps between doors and pilasters, offering increased privacy in all types of educational facilities.
New Construction
Loyola Academy, a private Jesuit college preparatory school in Wilmette, Ill., recently broke ground on a brand-new, 29,000-square-foot performing arts center. The Loyola Academy Center for the Performing Arts comes with a $25.76-million price tag and will feature flexible indoor and outdoor performance spaces.
New Construction
Orange County Public Schools, headquartered in Orlando, Fla., has announced that it will open four new campuses this fall. The new facilities include two high schools, one new elementary school, and a K–12 school for students with behavioral disorders.
Podcast
As K–12 schools gear up to return to in-person learning for the coming school year, one district already has a success under its belt. The Muskego-Norway School District in Muskego, Wis., successfully went in-person, five days a week, for the entire 2020–21 academic year. Our guest today is Tony Spence, the Chief Information Officer for that district. He takes a deep dive into explaining the logistics behind pulling off such a unique feat. He explains what went into creating the district’s plan, committing to it and—most importantly—effectively communicating that plan to students, parents, staff and administrators.
New Construction
Officials gathered last week on the campus of Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho, to break ground on a new alumni center. The building will be the first addition to the campus in 20 years.
Partnerships
Flooring and sports surface solutions provider Tarkett announced this week that it has formed a distribution partnership with Summit Flooring Supply.
Campus Amenities
On the University of Kentucky Coldstream Research Campus in Lexington, Ky., officials recently broke ground on a new residential village for the campus’ researchers and workforce. The 260-unit, multi-family complex, to be named FIFTEEN51 Apartments, is scheduled to open its doors to residents in spring 2022.
New Construction
On the campus of the University of Florida in Gainsville, Fla., construction has already begun on the new University of Florida Public Safety Building. The new home of the UF Police Department is intended to enhance visibility on campus and promote accessibility to the public.
New Construction
The commission that oversees school construction in the State of Ohio recently approved more than $242 million in state funds for the construction of nine new K–12 schools around the state. This figure combines with $208 million in local funds to set up $450 million in Ohio public education construction work.
COVID-19 and Schools
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its guidelines for COVID-19 prevention in K–12 schools on Friday. The health organization announced that fully vaccinated teachers and students will not be required to wear masks inside school buildings.
Funding
With the global pandemic greatly impacting the K–12 learning environment, more schools and districts are pivoting to collaborative learning spaces filled with comfortable, tech-equipped furniture that supports the future-ready learner. For funding help with these projects, districts are turning to one or more of the recently-passed federal stimulus bills.
Campus Renovations
On the campus of Grove City College in Grove City, Pa., the Henry Buhl Library is in the middle of a $9-million renovation project. The library first opened in 1954 and has not seen any major improvements or construction work since then.
New Construction
Construction on a new language arts complex recently began at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, Calif. The college is partnering with Sundt Construction, Inc., on the facility.
New Construction
At UC San Diego, construction is set to begin on a 7-story academic building that will house health and medical programs. The $70-million La Jolla Innovation Center (LJIC) will be located just across the street from the southwest edge of campus. The university cited space concerns within the existing boundaries of its campus, as well as the fact that many of its on-campus buildings require expensive seismic upgrades.
Campus Amenities
Furnishing solutions company Kimball International has announced a more customer-centric, go-to-market strategy. The strategy launched on July 1 and allows customers access to the company’s full complement of Workplace, Education, and Health brands.
Campus Technology
Artificial intelligence solutions company Brain Corp announced recently that Denver Public Schools has selected a series of BrainOS-powered robotics scrubbers to help keep its schools clean and sanitary. The self-driving floor cleaners were manufactured by the Tennant Company, and the school system said it hopes to make use of them to allow facility management employees more time to address other tasks.
New Construction
The new Wareham Elementary School in Wareham, Mass., is scheduled to open its doors to students in October, months ahead of its original projected opening in January 2022. Officials announced at a meeting in mid-June that construction was so ahead of schedule that the project was on track for completion by Sept. 15.
Campus Technology
Audio conferencing solutions company Nureva Inc. recently announced that it has added a Voice Amplification Mode to two of its audio conferencing systems. The addition to the HDL300 and Dual HDL300 systems will support both in-room amplification of the instructor’s voice as well as full-room pickup of other voices in the classroom for the sake of remote students.
New Construction
Officials from the Del Mar Union School District near San Diego, Calif., gathered at the end of June to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new elementary school. The June 24 event marked the first in-person event for district board and staff since the beginning of the COVID pandemic.
Campus Expansion
Melissa High School in Melissa, Texas, recently completed a 65,000-square-foot expansion in conjunction with the Perkins&Will Dallas studio. The new space includes a new practice gymnasium, an extension of the student union, a new performance theater, and an addition to the fine arts program.
New Construction
Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, held a groundbreaking ceremony last week for a new School of the Built Environment facility. Once complete, the building will play home to the construction management and architecture and environmental design programs.
New Construction
Officials at Diné College’s Shiprock south campus in Shiprock, N.M., celebrated a groundbreaking ceremony this week for a new, $7.4 million Math and Science Building.
Campus Renovations
Merced College in Merced, Calif., was recently awarded with a $3-million construction and renovation grant by the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA). The college has announced that it will use this grant, in combination with the remaining 2002 Measure H Bond funds, to renovate the Vocational Building near the heart of campus.
Building Addition
During its quarterly meeting last week, the Kent State University Board of Trustees approved an addition to the university’s Aeronautics and Engineering Building. The College of Aeronautics and Engineering opened in spring 2015, and since then, enrollment has grown enough to require additional space for faculty research and student classes and labs.
New Construction
Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., announced this week that it has named its new Integrated Science and Engineering facility: The John and Joan Bollier Family Center for Integrated Science and Engineering is scheduled to open this fall.
New Construction
School and public officials celebrated a groundbreaking ceremony this week on a new academic building for Clinton High School in Clinton, Iowa. The groundbreaking marks the start of a campus overhaul that will occur in phases, and the full scope of the $66.8-million project is scheduled to be complete by fall 2025.
Campus Renovations
The Nederland Independent School District (NISD) in Nederland, Texas, is preparing for renovations of all four of its elementary school campuses. District officials are expecting to receive design plans and a budget by August 2021, leading to an anticipated start date (for two of the schools) of October 2021. The primary goal is to keep the work within the $49.1 million budget that voters have already approved.
Campus Sustainability
The town of Mansfield, Conn., broke ground last week on the state’s first net-zero elementary school. Local politicians, town administrators, parents and students attended the ceremony on Thursday, June 25. The new school, which has yet to be named, will replace the town’s three existing elementary schools.
New Construction
Prince George’s County in Maryland is set to break ground on six new schools during the week of June 28 to July 2. The goal of the multi-school construction initiative is to address aging infrastructure, rising enrollment figures and a deficit of space for middle-school students in particular.
Leadership
Flooring solutions provider Shaw Industries Group, Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., has tapped Shannon Cochran to be the new brand leader of Patcraft.
Campus Technology
New programs prepare students for real-world careers and college pursuits, with LG displays used for teaching, collaboration, highlighting student works and school-wide digital signage
Campus Technology
Walk into the Makerspace at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and you will see Computer Numerical Control machinery; waterjet cutters; high-tech 3D printers for metal and plastic; and whiteboards full of ideas, to-do lists, and calculations. While the spacious downstairs is filled with machinery for students to bring theory into practice, the brand new, multi-purpose classroom upstairs is where much of the teaching and learning will prime students for success.
Awards
Spaces4Learning has announced the winners of its 2021 New Product Awards. The New Product Award program honors the outstanding product development achievements of manufacturers and suppliers whose products or services are considered to be particularly noteworthy in their ability to enhance the learning environment.
New Construction
Voith & Mactavish Architects, LLP (VMA) recently broke ground on a new building for the College of Business at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. The 74,000-square-foot structure is slated to open in fall 2022 and contain 16 experiential learning spaces for the Rauch School of Business.
New Construction
Architecture firm SRG Partnership recently announced that it has designed a Net Zero energy building for the Cascades Campus of Oregon State University in Bend, Ore. Edward J. Ray Hall will serve as a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) learning center featuring both interior and exterior active learning spaces.
Campus Amenities
Viscor, a brand of Leviton Lighting, has announced that it is launching the Visioneering LRTH-DFX luminaire lighting unit featuring 365DisInFx UVA technology.
Campus Funds
Available until September 2024, money from ESSER and HEERF is intended to facilitate the safe and healthy return to in-person instruction, ensuring that schools across the nation can meet the needs of their staff and students from an education, safety, security, and wellness perspective. However, there are many questions about how the funds are distributed and how to make the most of every dollar received.