Schools In Focus Podcast

Schools In Focus is a podcast dedicated to the design, planning and management of educational facilities and campuses. Listen in as we chat with industry experts, facility managers, architects, security and safety professionals, and other thought leaders. Catch up on previous episodes below.


KSU's New Multicultural Student Center

12/08/20

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. We discuss the vision behind the center, how the team incorporated feedback from numerous student groups, and the significance of having a multicultural student center on campus in the Midwest.

Music by Joseph McDade

Duration: 32 min


Centering Student Health and Wellness in Design

11/10/20

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. They talk about destigmatizing health centers, creating a welcoming, comfortable space with choice, the use of natural materials, and the importance of prevention in student wellness.

Music by Joseph McDade

Duration: 36 min


Active Shooter Response Planning

10/13/20

If a shooting happened on your campus, do you know what to do? In this episode, we speak to Tom Saccenti, a former campus police chief and security expert, about active shooter response planning in schools. We discuss the first thing schools should do when forming a response plan, the importance of knowing the school’s layout and ensuring there is a parent-student reunification plan.

Music by Joseph McDade

Duration: 26 min


School Lunch During a Pandemic

09/08/20

Belinda Oakley, CEO of Chartwells K12 and Seth Ferriell, CEO of SSC Services for Education talk about school food service during a pandemic. We discuss various models of food service to accommodate social distancing such as lunch in classrooms and take home meal kits; keeping cafeterias and classrooms clean; sustainable options to combat the increase of paper and plastic; and innovation in the K-12 food service industry.

Music by Joseph McDade

Duration: 38 min


Rethinking Higher Ed Spaces

08/12/20

Stu Rothenberger, who leads DLR Group’s Global Higher Education Studio, and his team talked to over 85 higher ed institutions and discussed their concerns and questions about reopening in the fall. Stu shared some of their findings with Schools In Focus and how DLR Group is rethinking higher ed spaces in the process. We discussed flexibility on a campus scale, the need for long-term resiliency plans, tackling equity issues, and creating smaller interaction spaces in a post-COVID19 learning environment.

Music by Joseph McDade

Duration: 29 min


COVID19 and the Impact on School Design

05/11/20

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. They discuss design options available to schools now that can help with social distancing in facilities, what we can learn from other countries who have already reopened, and the long-term impacts of COVID-19 to educational environments.

Music by Joseph McDade

Duration: 29 min


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