New Construction
The University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Ark., celebrated the grand opening of its new Integrated Health Sciences Building last week.
Campus Technology
Alma Student Information System (SIS) recently unveiled updates to its SIS platform, providing new features making it easier for districts to onboard schools and use third-party apps.
New Construction
The Waukee Community School District in Waukee, Iowa, held a dedication ceremony this week for its newest facility. Northwest High School is the district’s second high school and will welcome almost 1,300 students and 180 staff members when the school year begins next week.
New Construction
The Jackson County School System in Jefferson, Ga., recently opened its newest facility in time for the new school year. The new Jackson County High School was built to replace the 30-year-old Jackson County Comprehensive High School, which will be repurposed as the district’s Empower College & Career Center.
New Construction
SchenkelShultz Architecture announced last week that it has completed two new high schools for Orange County Public Schools.
Healthy Schools
A news release from the Learning First Alliance suggests that one in five children missed receiving routine vaccines during the pandemic.
New Construction
The Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of Abram Agnew Elementary School and Dolores Huerta Middle School, representing the completion of the first phase of an all-in-one K–12 campus. When complete, the Agnews K–12 Campus will combine elementary-, middle- and high-school students onto a single 55-acre campus in San Jose, Calif.
New Construction
The University of Texas at San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas, recently opened its new $40.4-million athletics center. A news release calls the Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence (RACE) “a milestone in the university’s strategic vision to create a central hub for UTSA Athletics and to further promote the academic success, health, wellness and performance of the university’s student-athletes.”
New Construction
On the campus of Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, officials recently broke ground on a new residence hall for students enrolled in the university’s Honors College.
Research Facilities
Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., announced this week that it will build a facility to test hypersonic technologies in the Purdue Aerospace District near the main campus. The Hypersonic Ground Test Center (HGTC) will be the first facility of its kind in the U.S.
New Construction
The Tomball Independent School District—located in Tomball, Texas, as part of the Houston metropolitan area—recently celebrated the completion of a new junior high school and a new athletic stadium.
Campus Restructuring
Waco ISD in Waco, Texas, has announced that students from two of its middle schools will combine onto a single campus after a fire destroyed one of its facilities in July.
New Construction
When school starts on Thursday, Aug. 12, students of East Hardin Middle School in Hardin County, Ky., will return to their old building instead of a brand-new facility as originally expected.
Campus Amenities
Quadient—a communication automation, parcel locker solutions, and mail-related solutions provider—announced this week that it has debuted the iX-9, the newest member of its iX-Series.
New Construction
On the campus of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., officials broke ground this week on a new art gallery. The Davison Art Gallery will be the campus’ first new art building since the mid-1970s.
New Construction
Following nearly two years of construction, the Texas Tech University’s brand-new School of Veterinary Medicine in Amarillo, Texas, is seeing staff and faculty move in.
Partnerships
Kellermeyer Bergensons Services, LLC (KBS), which partners with facility managers at more than 75,000 locations around North America, has announced the acquisition of Olympus Building Services, a leading provider of facilities services in higher education.
New Construction
Members of the Hoover school board in Hoover, Ala., met this week to discuss a series of upcoming capital projects totaling $98 million.
Campus Renovations
The Bloomfield Hills School District in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., has begun work on two new facilities in the district. Last year, voters approved a $200 million bond in a larger effort to scale back the number of district middle schools from three to two.
New Construction
The Spring Hill School District in Spring Hill, Kan., is set to open its newest elementary school in time for the coming school year. Dayton Creek Elementary School is projected to welcome an inaugural group of 200 students.
Campus Security
When a disaster occurs, schools need every tool at their disposal working towards one goal: keeping everyone safe. Efficient disaster response requires an easy-to-use, streamlined system that can perform multiple functions simultaneously to get information out as quickly as possible so students and staff can stay out of harm’s way.
Campus Technology
Over the past 18 months, professors have evolved curriculums, students have adapted to hybrid and online learning, and higher education institutions have implemented technology that supported and enhanced digital and hybrid classroom settings. As we approach a new school year, these methods have become an integral part of the new learning experience.
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.
New Construction
The school board of the Lebanon School District in Lebanon, Pa., recently approved the construction of a new facility for seventh- and eighth-graders, as well as renovations to an existing middle school building. The renovated middle school will house fifth- and sixth-graders once the new facility is complete.
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.
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.
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.
A new survey reveals that within the last 12 months, 93% of schools experienced an emergency incident due to an infrastructure malfunction.
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
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
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
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.
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.