Sustainability
A school district in Northern California will be adding new infrastructure to bring down the cost of recharging its electric school bus fleet. Palermo Union Elementary School District has signed with AMPLY Power, which will supply energy management intended to reduce the cost to a dime per kilowatt hour versus 19 to 39 cents/kWh under the previous charging program.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 04/07/21
Campus Sustainability
A New York school district is now generating all of its electricity needs through a 4.1-megawatt solar project. Maine-Endwell Central School District in Endwell activated its system, located on district property next to an elementary school, on March 23. It's expected to save the district more than $6.2 million in future energy costs over the course of 25 years.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 04/06/21
Campus Construction
North Carolina's Meredith College will soon resume work on a new facility to house the institution's communication and exercise and sports science programs. Construction plans had been paused in 2020 when the pandemic struck. The building will be located on the northwestern side of the school's 225-acre campus.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 04/06/21
Campus Technology
Purdue Online has recently launched a Disaster Recovery Certificate course for construction professionals. The course was developed as a means to educate workers in the construction industry on the nuances between disaster recovery work and normal construction practices.
Campus Facilities
Device sanitation solutions company iCleanse recently launched its newest product, the iCleanse Swift UV. The Swift UV serves as a chemical-free UV-C disinfection station for mobile phones and was created for a wide variety of markets including airports, retail stores, restaurants, doctors’ offices, corporate offices, higher education environments, and more.
Campus Facilities
Ball State University, located in Muncie, Ind., held a virtual ribbon cutting for its new Esports Center this week. The 3,600-square-foot facility will serve as the home of the College of Communication, Information, and Media’s new Esports program.
Campus Technology
Web security platform ContentKeeper announced this week that it’s launching a generation cloud filtering and security platform designed specifically for use in K-12 educational environments. The ContentKeeper Cloud helps teachers and administrators maintain the balance between letting students explore the Internet to access potentially valuable content and basic student security and safety.
COVID-19 and Schools
Victory Innovations, a provider of surface disinfection solutions, announced that it is expanding its yearly “Keep Kids Healthy” campaign, which launched in 2018. The company will donate electrostatic sprayers to underserved schools, and it will offer more than $10 million in product discounts to help combat the spread of COVID-19 in newly reopened educational environments.
Campus Modernization
The San Diego Unified School District has officially begun modernization projects on two of its schools: La Jolla Elementary School and John Muir Language Academy. California builders C.W. Driver Companies broke ground on both construction projects last week.
Campus Facilities
VS America, a leading provider of school and office furniture solutions, will host a webinar on Wednesday, April 14, titled “Learn How to Transform Learning Spaces Using COVID-19 Relief Funds.”
Campus Operations
Becker College, a small private college with campuses in Worcester and Leicester, Mass., announced on Monday that it will shut down at the end of the academic year. The college’s permanent closure is due to financial difficulties exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Campus Renovations
The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pa., is in the process of revamping its outdated biomedical library into what a press release calls “an open center for cross-disciplinary learning, prototyping, and collaboration.” The university is working with Voith and Mactavish Architects LLP (VMA) to finish the renovations by June 2021 and open the building to students for the fall 2021 academic semester.
Campus Technology
vFairs, a hybrid and virtual event platform, will be offering its services to public schools, colleges, and universities as the second graduation season of the COVID-19 pandemic draws closer.
COVID-19 and Schools
A news release from CatchOn, a data analytics and application monitoring solution used by K-12 schools, reveals that digital engagement among students has increased during the pandemic. A comprehensive data analysis suggests that even if districts saw a sharp dip during the beginning of remote learning, the level of engagement has since spiked above normal, pre-pandemic standards.
Campus Technology
An upstate New York public school recently saw a major upgrade to its AV capabilities through a partnership with Ashly Audio and Advance Sound Company. Stissing Mountain Junior/Senior High School of the Pine Plains Central School District in Pine Plains, N.Y., updated its suite of audio amplification and control solutions to serve not just the school’s students and faculty, but the wider community.
Transportation
Two Illinois public school districts recently purchased electric school buses from Georgia-based bus manufacturer Blue Bird Corporation. These buses are both the first operational electric school buses in the state, as well as the first commercial application of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology in the country.
University Research
Solar panel arrays that cover canals and other waterways—also known as floating solar farms—have become an increasingly intriguing possibility as sustainable energy practices gain momentum. Researchers from the University of Stirling in Stirling, Scotland, and Lancaster University in Lancashire, England, have finished the first detailed model of floating solar installations’ environmental effects on the bodies of water they cover.
Sustainability
The Batesville School District in Batesville, Ark., isn’t the first school district to save money on utilities by switching to solar power. It may, however, be the among the first to pass those savings directly to teachers.
Clean Air
During the COVID-19 pandemic, air purifiers are growing in popularity as a method of cleansing interior spaces of the airborne SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, a new study from Colorado State University has revealed some of the unintended consequences of some of these devices.
School Facilities
A career and technical high school in New Jersey has added new professional recording gear to one of its teaching spaces. County Prep High School, part of Hudson County Schools of Technology, added hardware from Solid State Logic (SSL), a UK-based company that manufactures analog and digital audio consoles for music and audio production. Students in the music and audio technology program learn how to write their own songs and produce their own music.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 03/29/21
Campus Renovations
After four years of discussions and stakeholder input, a high school in Pennsylvania is undertaking a $24.4 million project to improve its accessibility. Radnor High School, part of Radnor Township School District, recently received board approval to begin its "accessibility and wellness infrastructure project." The money will come from a capital reserve fund.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 03/29/21
School Construction
Construction on the new Wilkes-Barre Area High School in Plains Township, Pa., is nearing completion. The district plans to merge its three high schools into the new building upon its opening, which could force as many as 37 teachers to be furloughed.
Modernization Project
Clearwater High School, part the of Pinellas County School System in Clearwater, Fla., has officially begun a $48.5 million modernization project. The school was originally built in the 1950s, and the project will involve demolishing 17 buildings around campus, constructing seven new ones, and renovating five more.
Energy
A student-driven initiative at Colorado State University has added almost 114 megawatt hours of clean electricity to the Fort Collins-based university's annual solar generation. The purchase of an 80-kilowatt, $100,000 photovoltaic solar array was funded almost entirely by student fees allocated through the Associated Students of Colorado State University (ASCSU), beginning in 2019.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 03/29/21
Campus Technology
A higher education technology company with a content management system has bought another company that produces online campus maps. Modern Campus, which produces Omni CMS, has acquired nuCloud, which develops customizable, interactive campus maps and virtual tours.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 03/26/21
Solar Energy
San Jacinto College, located in the metroplex area of Houston, Texas, has announced plans to add solar electricity arrays to two of its buildings. The arrays, designed and installed by Sunfinity Renewable Energy, are set to lower the school’s utility costs by millions and contribute to better air quality in the area.
Campus Renovations
KWK Architects recently completed a design and renovation project for the Washington University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry at Renard Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. The 1950s-era hospital’s second, third, and fourth floors were renovated to centralize the department and provide office and teaching space.
Campus Renovations
Two Minneapolis contracting firms recently partnered to make some long-needed repairs to the University of Minnesota’s on-campus boathouse.
School Opening
Baker Technical Institute, a technical college whose main campus is in Baker City, Ore., announced this week that it’s opening a second location in Prineville, Ore., about 200 miles west. The institute will open next month to provide career and technical training to Central Oregon residents to meet the needs of skilled labor in the area.
Construction
The Lyford Cay International Baccalaureate School, located in Nassau, The Bahamas, has opened its newest academic building to students. Designed by Cooper Robertson, the 35,000-square-foot Gateway Building will house 350 students from sixth through twelfth grade. The facility is also the first completed step—and the intended centerpiece—of a new 17-acre Upper School campus currently under development.
Campus Technology
Marshall Electronics and MXL Microphones have recently reintroduced a line of user-friendly cameras and microphones for use in remote learning. Products like the Marshall CV503-U3 camera and the MXL AC-44 microphone offer relatively simple plug-and-play solutions to help improve faculty and students improve the audio and visual quality of their learning experiences.
COVID-19 and Schools
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Friday, March 19, that it is relaxing social distancing requirements for students returning to school for in-person learning. The organization has determined that students wearing masks in a classroom environment can be spaced just 3 feet apart.
Indoor Air Quality
The Manteca Unified School District in Manteca, Calif., has installed 1,500 Carrier OptiClean Dual-Mode Air Scrubber & Negative Air Machines across 30 schools in preparation to fully reopen. The product, which was named one of TIME’s 100 Best Inventions of 2020, will help improve the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) for the more than 27,000 returning MUSD students, faculty, and staff.
Campus Sustainability
California community college Merced College has partnered with Johnson Controls to upgrade the campus infrastructure and target deferred maintenance problems. In an effort to improve sustainability and the student experience on campus, Johnson is set to manage the design, procurement and installation of energy-efficient central plant and lighting retrofits, as well as upgrade campus building automation systems (BAS) and mechanical systems.
COVID-19 and Schools
Michigan State University has partnered with pathogen control technology vendor UV Angel to install UV Angel Clean Air units around the MSU campus. They have already been added to busy areas like the Olin Health Center and Wonders Hall, and they’re scheduled for installation soon in campus athletic facilities. The goal is to foster cleaner, safer environments for students and faculty as they return to campus during (and after) the coronavirus pandemic.
Technology
Hanwha Techwin, producer of IP and analog video surveillance solutions, has expanded its line of multi-sensor cameras that include the Wisenet 7 chipset.
Technology
The Movo WebMic HD Pro launched on Kickstarter on March 1 and reached its target goal of $15,000 by the next day. The product combines an HD web camera, a condenser microphone, and an LED ring light into one device for what a press release calls an “all-in-one” solution for video conferencing needs on any platform.
COVID-19 and Schools
The Bradley Corp., based in Menomonee Falls, Wis., has released a new series of stainless steel hand sanitizer dispensers and stands for quick, convenient access to hand-cleansing products. Touch-free and resilient, the commercial-grade dispensers can be placed in high-traffic areas like doorways, stairwells, lobbies, cafeterias, and more.
Construction
Sacred Heart University, located in Fairfield, Conn., has officially broken ground on the construction of a $70 million ice arena to be located in west campus. The arena continues a multiyear expansion program that aims to foster personal development, student growth, and student engagement, says SHU President John J. Petillo.
Technology
The University of Louisiana Monroe has partnered with Trox, an education technology solutions company, to install a state-of-the-art active learning classroom for its College of Pharmacy. The classroom is the first of its kind in the state, and it provides opportunities for more active participation, interaction, and collaboration among teachers and students.