Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

What’s Goin' On

  • By Deborah P. Moore
  • 11/01/14

Positive news in the education world brings own set of challenges.

There is nothing I like better than talking with the architects and administrators who are charged with designing, equipping and operating educational facilities. This past month has been a busy one, with our staff attending ASIS (focusing on safety and security), CEFPI (focusing on planning and design), GreenBuild (focusing on sustainability) and EdSpaces (focusing on furniture and equipment). It is events like these where we have the opportunity to hear about trends in the industry and find ideas for articles.

Perhaps the best news I have is that the economy “has” improved in the last year and that money is once again being spent to improve the learning environment. This news was a long time coming!

When it comes to resources and staff, everyone has been forced to downsize. The only thing that continues to grow is enrollment. Two reasons… the first is growth in the school-age population; second is the need for an educated workforce.

The National Center for Education Statistic reports that between fall 2012 and fall 2021, we can expect an increase of seven percent in the number of students attending public schools. Plus, it has been reported that there will be 55 million job openings in the economy through 2020.

More people and the need for more education can only mean one thing… a need for more facilities, better facilities and making the best use of the facilities we have. New facility design IS sustainable design.

From a planning and design standpoint the talk is about safety & security, collaborative learning and flexible space. In the next few years, we will continue to see less focus on formal spaces and more of a focus on flexibility and informal group spaces. New furniture designs and advances in technology have made concepts like the Flipped Classroom and TEAL (Technology Enhanced Active Learning) become a reality. Results for TEAL classrooms show twice the average normalized learning gains for low-, intermediate- and high-scoring students when compared to traditional instruction. Results like those will be hard to ignore.

My only reservation… all of this sounds good, and it works well in new and modernized facilities. The challenge will be to this work for not just for the few who will attend new state-of-the-art facilities, but for all students.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • TCU Marks Campus Expansion Milestone

    Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, recently held a topping-out ceremony to mark progress on a major campus expansion effort including four new residential facilities and a five-story parking garage, according to a news release.

  • Rethinking K-12 Schools as a Continuous Learning Experience

    Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.

  • Q&A: How to Prevent Kitchen Grease Fires in Commercial Kitchens

    School cafeterias and university dining halls serve thousands of meals daily, relying on high-heat equipment like fryers, grills, and ovens. While these operations keep students fed, they also generate significant grease-laden vapors. Without proper controls, this grease becomes a silent fire threat. As a certified exhaust cleaning specialist and business coach who has helped hundreds of institutional facilities achieve NFPA 96 compliance, I emphasize that proactive grease management isn’t optional; it’s a core fire/life safety practice.

  • Designing Third Spaces That Do What AI Can't

    In 2026, education is evolving faster than ever. With AI reshaping everything from lesson planning to personalized instruction, schools and universities are turning their attention to what AI can’t replicate: spaces that foster collaboration, community, and creativity.