Features


Accountant using a calculator.

Looking Beyond Personnel Reductions for Cost-Cutting Solutions

It will be critical for institutions to look at new ways to generate revenue and reduce expenses that are sustainable and effective. There are several initiatives that institutions can consider or implement in response to the crisis.

Midland Media Center, courtesy of Mien Company

5 Tips for Modernizing a K-12 Media Center

Here’s how Midland School District overhauled the media centers and turned them into central activity hubs for the schools.

Schools In Focus podcast logo on the left and Ishita Banerjii

Schools In Focus: KSU’s New Multicultural Student Center

Ishita Banerjii, project architect at Hollis + Miller, discusses Kansas State University’s new multicultural student center. The building, dedicated to advance student diversity, features various gathering spaces like dance studios, huddle rooms, and a commercial kitchen.

Someone with blue rubber gloves wiping down a desk.

Does Your School Maintenance Plan Pass the Test?

Although you set your initial school maintenance plan during the late summer months, now is a good time to evaluate its effectiveness, find opportunities to refine your processes, and make sure you and your teams are doing all you can to safeguard students and staff if and when they enter your doors in person.

reader survey

The Ongoing Impact of COVID-19 Policy in Education

COVID-19 has changed and will continue to change every aspect of education in K–12 and higher education for the foreseeable future. We polled our readership to learn of the experiences taking place across the nation and get a glimpse of what's being planned going into the spring 2021 semester and beyond.

Social distancing markers on school hallway.

Studying Up: Preparing for Flu Season

This year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing the spread of respiratory illnesses like the flu is more important than ever.

The volume of the existing structure of CEC Fort Collins High School offered an opportunity to bring daylight in from above, creating a community space within the hallway.

Adaptive Reuse Offers Schools an Opportunity to Innovate, Embrace Sustainability and Reduce Costs

As the education industry assimilates to a new and uncertain future, we can take one lesson from 2020 with us: we must embrace innovative solutions and have the courage to try new things as we plan for the future. Adaptive reuse can support this endeavor.

Schools In Focus Podcast logo and headshots Turan Duda and Jeff Paine.

Schools In Focus: Centering Student Health and Wellness In Design

In this episode of Schools In Focus, Turan Duda and Jeff Paine, founding principals of Duda|Paine Architects, discuss how architectural design is shifting to better address the mental and physical health needs of students.

Outdoor learning pavilion at Linden Waldorf School in Nashville, TN.

With New Open-Air Classrooms, Nashville Private School Moves Learning Outdoors

With a curriculum centered on connection to nature and environmental stewardship, Linden Waldorf School's vision for the pavilions were to move all classes completely outdoors where students get to be in nature throughout the whole school day.

Epoxy flooring at school in Texas.

Sustainable Flooring Solutions for High-Traffic Educational Facilities

Sustainable flooring is a smart choice for schools interested in providing a healthy learning environment and demonstrating their commitment to a better global environment.

Student washing hands with touchless faucet.

How to Improve Infection Control and Handwashing in School Restrooms

How do you create a hygienic and safe environment equipped to handle everyday usage and increased handwashing activity by students, faculty, administration and staff? And, how do you improve the restroom experience to make it more appealing to its users?

Schools in Focus podcast logo and Tom Saccenti

Schools In Focus: Active Shooter Response Planning

In this episode, we spoke to Tom Saccenti, a former campus police chief and security expert, about active shooter response planning in schools. His first piece of advice is to walk through an active shooter scenario with all teachers, janitors, staff members, etc. at the school.

Office spaces at Scott Hall.

Retrofitting University Buildings for Sound Masking

When a physical space offers a little passive noise control, such as high cubicle walls, private offices or softer, sound-absorbing materials, the effects on the well-being of each person — as well as their productivity — can be profoundly impacted.

Custodial worker using an autovac. Courtesy of Kaivac.

Proper Mop Care and Other Floor-Cleaning Systems Amid COVID-19

Floors are too often overlooked when it comes to fighting the spread of infection. For many years, many hospital administrators did not even believe it was necessary to disinfect floors. Now we know better. Floors, as well as the tools used to clean floors, deserve close attention when it comes to minimizing the spread of coronavirus.  

Maintenance of a building

4 Ways Schools Can Improve Indoor Air Quality to Reduce COVID-19 Transmission

A building’s HVAC technology can help decrease the transmission rate or mitigate the risk of exposure. Thus, schools must consider their HVAC system as part of their overall COVID-19 mitigation strategy, in addition to social distancing, cleaning, screening, signage and operational practices.

Flexible furniture to accommodate social distancing in a media center.

5 Ways to Redesign a Media Center During COVID-19

If the global pandemic sidelined your plans for creating a very inviting, collaborative, nurturing media center space, get your vision back on track with these five success tips.

Visioning workshops with district and community representatives help uncover concerns and goals. Photo: Courtesy of Finegold Alexander Architects.



CommUnity: Uniting Communities through School Design

At the onset of a project, the design team and the district must unite to develop the appropriate “Visioning Process” to gain input from teachers, administrators, parents, students, and members of the public. This typically takes the form of in-person workshops or on virtual platforms as we encountered this past spring. The architect can then use that feedback to develop a customized school design that meets the district’s goals and expectations.

Schools In Focus podcast logo and Belinda Oakley, CEO of Chartwells K12, and Seth Ferriell, CEO of SSC Services for Education.

Schools In Focus: Food Service During a Pandemic

In this episode of Schools In Focus podcast, I speak to Belinda Oakley, CEO of Chartwells K12 and Seth Ferriell, CEO of SSC Services for Education, about school food service during a pandemic.

Walker Grant Center. OddBox Studios; courtesy of Rockfon

How the Right Acoustic Ceiling Can Improve a School's Performance

If there is not enough sound absorption in spaces for learning, they are overly loud, reverberant and stressful; not an environment conducive for effective education. Up to one of every four words cannot be understood by students in many classrooms, according to guidelines by the Acoustical Society of America.