COVID-19
With COVID-19 changing the educational landscape each day, school and college decision makers need all the help they can get during this global crisis. Here are some resources on everything schools and colleges need to consider regarding educational facilities, construction, design and planning of new facilities, maintenance, managing employees and much more. (Updated 5/13)
- By Yvonne Marquez
- 05/13/20
Reopening Schools
Students at Willow Creek School in Montana returned to school on Thursday. The school, which serves between 50-60 students in grades K-12, is one of the first in the United States to reopen after schools closed in March.
- By Yvonne Marquez
- 05/11/20
Episode 4
As schools across the country figure out how to safely reopen schools, we wonder: how will COVID-19 impact school design? Senior editor Yvonne Marquez discusses with Sylvia Kowalk and Robin Randall from Legat Architects on what changes we might see as schools reopen.
- By Yvonne Marquez
- 05/11/20
Reopening Schools
As you rethink the design of educational spaces and structures to keep your communities safe and healthy when schools reopen, here are some possible strategies and issues to consider.
- By Cindy Eggebrecht-Weinschreider
- 05/08/20
Components & Materials
Walls, ceilings and floors, along with all interior and other building elements, must meet budgetary, acoustic, resilience, sustainability and maintenance requirements, with builders weighing such factors and others. Here are some ways that schools are making their interiors stand out.
The board strongly encourages districts to hold digital events and to use social media to highlight graduates with hashtags and messages. The board will allow in-person graduation events including “drive-in” and “drive-through” ceremonies.
- By Yvonne Marquez
- 05/04/20
Reopening Schools
Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa laid out several possibilities for classes in August.
- By Yvonne Marquez
- 05/04/20
Awards & Recognition
Spaces4Learning has opened its 2020 New Product of the Year award program. Each year, the program recognizes new and emerging products and technologies for the outstanding contributions they make to K–12 and higher education.
Reopening Schools
The fall of 2020 will be different. Nobody knows for sure what it will look like, but most would agree that it <em>will</em> be different, which raises many questions for those of us involved in the construction and design of academic facilities.
- By Steve Cunningham
- 05/01/20
Reopening Schools
While the attention so far has been focused mainly on ensuring that all students continue to receive a high-quality learning experience from home, leaders are now shifting their focus to how they can safely and responsibly reopen schools. Here are eight key suggestions for keeping students and staff safe when schools reopen.
Healthy Schools
Pre-K and kindergarten students at Centner Academy in Miami begin their school day with a mindfulness practice. Here is how it's helping students cope with changes due to coronavirus and some tips to incorporate mindfulness in the classroom.
- By Yvonne Marquez
- 04/22/20
Cleaning and COVID-19
This cleaning process provides more thorough coverage, essentially leaving no place for germs and pathogens, including those that cause COVID-19, to hide.
- By Robert Kravitz
- 04/20/20
Business
Michigan community colleges are seeing a decline in summer enrollment, an indication of what’s to come in the fall.
- By Yvonne Marquez
- 04/20/20
Food Service
Houston ISD and Houston Food Bank officials handed out 90,000 pounds of food at NRG Stadium on Saturday, April 18.
- By Yvonne Marquez
- 04/20/20
Episode 3
In this episode, we talk about the short-term and long-term goals of keeping school facilities clean amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
- By Yvonne Marquez
- 04/15/20
Grant
The organization is calling IIE Network Member institutions to nominate international students who are not able to return to their home countries over the summer due to COVID-19 for a grant of up to $2,500.
- By Yvonne Marquez
- 04/13/20
Contingency Planning
Boston University is planning for the possibility that the fall term might have to be delayed and instead reopened in January 2021.
- By Yvonne Marquez
- 04/13/20
Construction
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced the indefinite halt to non-essential construction, effective April 10 at 8 p.m. The new executive order tightens restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
- By Yvonne Marquez
- 04/09/20
STEM
When students return to school at Richardson Independent School District near Dallas, Texas, they will be able to utilize a brand-new state-of-the-art STEM facility that is open to all K-12 students in the district. Designed by Perkins and Will, the Berkner STEM Exploration Center was created for students of all ages.
- By Yvonne Marquez
- 04/01/20
Expert Viewpoint
Teaching and learning are undergoing significant transformation, but, by and large, the design of classrooms has not transformed at the same rate. Here are six key elements of a modern and highly engaging learning space that both supports and encourages 21st century learning: choice, comfort, versatility, connection, stimulation and technology.
- By Deanna Marie Lock
- 04/01/20
Flooring
Tarkett, a flooring and sports surface solutions company, launched a new carpet collection in partnership with menswear designer Jhane Barnes.
- By Yvonne Marquez
- 03/31/20
facilities
Learning is no longer restricted to the classroom or the library. Increasing the use and appeal of the space in between classrooms and other traditional learning environments can play a key role in teaching and learning.
facilities
maintenance
There may not be a good answer as to why restrooms are vandalized, but there are products and methods available to help with discouraging the act.
- By Klaus Reichardt
- 03/27/20
technology
Ideally every institution would be prepared for teaching continuity before an incident occurs. The following recommendations can be helpful even if your institution is already in the midst of a switch to remote teaching.
Interior Design
In Bothell, Washington, Dykeman, Inc. worked with the Northshore School District to create a flexible, innovative learning center for 1,600 students centered on collaboration. They incorporated state-of-the-art interior single leaf sliding doors and hardware into eight "collaboration cubes" to pave the way for project-based and problem-based group learning, without compromising design.
COVID-19 & Cleaning
The Cleaning Industry Research Institute (CIRI) will host an all-day online science symposium focused on coronavirus cleaning and pandemic response on March 31.
- By Yvonne Marquez
- 03/24/20
facilities
Parking
What do your students complain about? Fair or not, parking is usually near the top of the list. To handle those complaints, many campuses are turning to parking-specific customer service platforms to support their automated parking operations.
Maintenance
School and campus administrators throughout North America are very concerned about coronavirus and its impact on their facilities, students, teachers and staff. And there is good reason.
- By Robert Kravitz
- 03/17/20
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