Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

What can we learn about campus communication from K–12 districts?

  • By Jaime Mendez
  • 04/01/18

Historically, there wasn’t much in common between primary/secondary schools and college campuses in terms of communication needs. Class bells weren’t useful. Campus size made paging systems impractical. But the advent of new technologies—and new threats—should prompt college facilities professionals to take some pointers from their K–12 cousins.

Many K–12 campuses have moved to network-based distributed communication—putting functions like paging, intercom, and bells on the LAN instead of separate hardwired analog systems—as a way to increase efficiency, flexibility, and safety. Basically, that means a server, a software interface, and a variety of flexible IP-addressable endpoints in classrooms, offices, and interior/exterior common areas. For example, staff can set up different zones for voice paging or digital signage messages, and make changes anytime with a few clicks. Schools have also gained new safety functionality: panic buttons in classrooms, silent alerts, and instant triggering of lockdowns and all-clears from the office or even a mobile device. Integrating all these functions under a single platform is a big plus.

Because the technology scales on infrastructure are already present on campus, it makes sense for colleges to consider adapting it to their needs. Taking emergency preparedness as an example, how would an instructor alert others of a potential threat today? If locking doors were an appropriate response to that threat, how would you do it, and should the same process automate communication across the entire campus? Also important, do you have a way to tell everyone the emergency is over?

Many prominent K–12 districts have good answers to these questions. If yours aren’t quite so clear, it’s worth taking a closer look at the solutions they’ve been creating.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management April 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

About the Author

Jaime Mendez serves as architectural consultant at FrontRow. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • California Middle School Breaks Ground on Major Renovation Project

    The Hillsborough City School District (HCSD) in Hillsborough, Calif., recently began construction on new multipurpose and administration facilities for Crocker Middle School, 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.

  • Virginia Tech Tops Out New College of Engineering Building

    Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., recently celebrated the topping out of Mitchell Hall, which will soon stand as the largest College of Engineering building on campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with Skanska on the 285,500-square-foot facility, which has an expected completion date of winter 2028.

  • Tennessee Middle School Completes Health, Life Safety Renovations

    The Giles County Board of Education in Pulaski, Tenn., recently announced that a series of renovation projects has been completed at Bridgeforth Middle School, according to a news release. The district partnered with Wold Architects & Engineers and Brindley Construction to modernize building systems at one of the district’s oldest schools.