New Construction
Officials at High Point University in High Point, N.C., recently announced a $400-million academic expansion to include four new schools, including a law school. The announcement came on the heels of the university receiving three gifts from three totaling $100 million within the last month.
New Construction
Texas Christian University recently announced that it will be building a new campus for the TCU School of Medicine in the Fort Worth Medical District in Fort Worth, Texas.
Cybersecurity
Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, recently announced a partnership with Stellar Cyber to adopt a new cybersecurity program for one of its institutes.
New Construction
Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis., recently revealed plans for a major renovation to the Helfaer Tennis Stadium and Recreation Center. The building will be reimagined as the Wellness + Recreation facility, and it will unite the school’s fitness and recreation services with its counseling center and medical clinic under one roof.
Campus Transportation
Modern student transportation solutions company Zum announced recently that it has deployed its first batch of electric school buses. The six LionC electric school buses, manufactured by Lion Electric, are already serving students in the San Francisco Unified School District and the Oakland Unified School District, according to a press release.
Campus Renovations
Local news reports that the Lansing School District in Lansing, Mich., will be merging its two Montessori schools into one building starting next year.
New Construction
Builder C.W. Driver Companies recently announced the completion of a $38-million reconstruction project for Menifee Valley Middle School in Menifee, Calif. The project involved converting more than 71,000 square feet of the campus into a magnet school for visual and performing arts.
Campus Renovation
Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., will start construction this summer on a $27.5-million expansion to its campus diversity center.
New Construction
During the construction of Baylor University’s new Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center, two workers fell 35 feet after a scaffolding collapse and were taken to the hospital on Wednesday, March 2, in Waco, Texas, according to local authorities.
New Construction
The Friendswood Independent School District in Friendswood, Texas, is ready to begin construction on a new elementary school nearly two years after the original bond was approved. The district’s board of trustees selected Satterfield & Pontikes Construction as the project’s construction manager at its board workshop meeting on Monday, Feb. 28.
Campus Safety
The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, recently released the results of an external review of its expanded off-campus safety program.
Campus Amenities
Birchwood Lighting recently announced the launch of a new set of acoustic luminaries and panels designed for large, open spaces. The BWA250 luminaries and panels are intended to provide both seamless illumination and sound dampening capabilities in environments like open office spaces, common areas and education spaces.
New Construction
One of the largest public charter schools in the U.S., Granada Hills Charter near Los Angeles, recently announced the completion of a $41-million campus expansion project.
Campus Funding
University of Kentucky HealthCare (U.K. HealthCare) in Lexington, Ky., recently announced that it has received a $10 million gift from Central Bank to go toward expanding patient care at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center.
New Construction
Private Christian university Columbia International University, located in Columbia, S.C., recently held a groundbreaking and dedication for a new Health Science Lab facility. The 2,200-square-foot space will contain biology and chemistry lab classrooms and is scheduled to open in time for the fall 2022 semester, according to a news release.
Campus Technology
An independent, Texas-based school district comprised of 33 educational institutions including elementary, middle, and high schools needed to resolve its cellular reception problems. Staff and students must be able to make 9-1-1 calls on a mobile phone from anywhere within a school campus in the event of an emergency for location accuracy, according to guidelines set by the Safer Buildings Coalition.
Campus Sustainability
Howard University in Washington, D.C., recently announced that it will be partnering with VEIC and CustomerFirst Renewables to develop a five-year campus Sustainability Plan.
Healthy Schools
CloroxPro recently announced that it has launched an online learning platform to help educate and train commercial cleaning professionals. CloroxPro HealthyClean is intended to help boost the knowledge and skills of cleaning and maintenance staff as these workers’ responsibilities have skyrocketed during the last two years.
Campus Security
Hanwha Techwin America is getting ready for ISC West 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The IP and analog video surveillance solutions provider will be showcasing its new line of “AI-powered dual channel multi-sensor cameras featuring powerful Deep-Learning based object detection and classification, and license-free video and audio analytics,” according to a news release.
New Construction
The Board of Trustees at Indiana University recently approved the design of a new Medical Education Building for the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. The new facility will stand 11 stories tall, measure in at roughly 326,200 square feet and provide much-needed additional space for the instructional and research needs of various programs.
Education Conference
The TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association) Convention & Exposition took place last week from Monday, Feb. 7, to Thursday, Feb. 10, at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas. I had the opportunity to drop in on the convention for a day, and the following are some loosely organized thoughts about my experience there.
Campus Amenities
While most teachers and educators are aware of the eSports phenomenon and its ever-expanding popularity, many remain unfamiliar with all the benefits an eSports program can offer to both students and schools themselves. Moreover, some educators looking to introduce eSports programs feel overwhelmed and in the dark about how to get started.
New Construction
The Lafayette Parish School System in Lafayette, La., announced this week that it has selected construction companies for three rebuilding projects within its district.
Food Service
Contract food service management provider Chartwells Higher Education announced this week that it is partnering with food automation company Picnic to provide an automated pizza assembly station to a college campus dining hall.
New Construction
Furman University in Greenville, S.C., is gearing up to tackle the largest construction project in its history. Groundbreaking starts this Saturday, Feb. 12, for a comprehensive renovation of South Housing that involves constructing a new residence hall and renovating four others.
New Construction
The Board of Trustees at Quinnipiac University’s Mount Carmel Campus in Hamden, Conn., recently approved the construction of three new buildings on campus. Two new academic buildings and a new residence hall will come together to form a new “South Quad” area.
Learning Devices
With 50 million Chromebooks now in use in schools around the U.S., Google recently introduced a new repair program for U.S. education users of its Acer- and Lenovo-made models, with a new website providing self-service repair guides for each model.
- By Kristal Kuykendall
- 02/07/22
Campus Safety
The Salt Lake City School District in Utah recently announced that it has adopted a training management system from Vector Solutions. Vector Training, formerly known as SafeSchools, provides online video training courses for K–12 schools and will help the district maintain federal, state and local staff training and compliance among its 4,000 employees.
New Construction
Auburn-Washburn Public Schools USD 437 near Topeka, Kan., is preparing for a bond election that could provide the district with funds to build a second middle school. The existing Washburn Rural Middle School is currently the largest middle school in the state that serves students in grades 7–8.
New Construction
College of the Redwoods, a community college in Eureka, Calif., recently broke ground on a new creative arts building. The new facility will measure in at 29,888 square feet and will replace the former creative arts building, which was built in 1974.
New Construction
The University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz., recently completed an $81-million, seven-year construction project called the Student Success District. The project’s goal was to centralize and upgrade a variety of crucial student resources including library services, tutoring and advising, mentoring and career services, and health programs within a single area of campus.
Healthy Schools
Robotics company OhmniLabs recently debuted an autonomous cleaning robot that uses UV-C light to disinfect spaces. OhmniClean is capable of disinfecting a 3,000-square-foot space in less than 15 minutes and was designed for use in schools, hospitals, hotels and other spaces that require deep cleaning of high-touch surfaces.
HVAC
For the first time ever, the main gymnasium and cafeteria at Fort Dodge Senior High School in Fort Dodge, Iowa, will have air conditioning when the next school year begins this fall.
New Construction
Braintree Public Schools in Braintree, Mass., recently announced that construction has begun on a new school facility for the district. The structure will serve as a new home for the existing South Middle School, and it will also be the town’s first new school construction in more than 50 years.
Campus Design
Design firm LPA Design Studios recently announced that it has promoted Kate Mraw to the position of Director of K–12. In this new role, Mraw will spearhead the development of the firm’s national education design practice, according to a press release.
Campus Renovations
Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., recently announced that the renovation and expansion project for Swartz Hall has been completed. According to a news release, the 60,000-square-foot renovation and 13,000-square-foot expansion began in May 2019.
Campus Sustainability
Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Ga., recently partnered with facility energy solutions provider ABM Industries to upgrade campus STEM labs—and save about $11.7 million across ten years in the process.
School Signage
From students to faculty, any school’s first priority should be the safety of people on campus. By now, you’ve probably learned that safety signage plays a vital role in keeping people safe at your school. From the parking lot to the playground, having the proper school safety signs not only keeps your students and faculty safe but also helps you avoid costly lawsuits or OSHA fines.
New Construction
Officials from the Nye Country School District recently approved the construction of a new, $15.2-million elementary school in Tonopah, Nev.
Campus Renovations
The Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School (AMSA) in Marlborough, Mass., recently selected Boston-based Finegold Alexander Architects to provide the design for an upcoming series of renovation and addition projects.