Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

A New Back-to-School Experience

  • By Yvonne Marquez
  • 07/01/20

As a nerdy kid, my absolute favorite part of the year growing up was back-to-school season. I couldn’t wait to receive my school supplies list and go shopping for new gel pens, highlighters, and notebooks. I loved it more than Christmas! I looked forward to meeting new teachers and new classmates and getting to learn so many new things.

As the 2020-2021 academic year begins soon, students, teachers, and staff alike are gearing up for an entirely new back-to-school experience. With coronavirus rates still increasing across the United States, schools and universities are rethinking educational environments in order to keep occupancy low and properly social distance.

Some school districts will be implementing a hybrid learning model where half of the student population attends in-person classes on certain days of the week while the rest learn online and then students switch. Some school districts will be taking an online-only approach for a portion or all of the first semester, while others are planning for a full return to the classroom with PPE in the fall.

This school year will require district leaders to be agile and flexible and push themselves to problem solve like never before. In this issue of Spaces4Learning, we have an insightful guide to rethinking school spaces and structures to help with the process. On our website under the “COVID-19” tab, you can find all our coverage of the pandemic and its impact on schools, colleges and universities. Online articles include how to incorporate signage for social distancing purposes and how school nurses are critical to the pandemic. Spaces4Learning will continue to cover how schools and colleges are tackling the coronavirus, along with other design, planning and management needs.

The weeks ahead will prove challenging but also provide a chance to try something new, to rethink what we thought was working and to forge a new plan for the sake of our school communities.

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2020 issue of Spaces4Learning.

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Washington State University Debuts New Engineering Hall

    Washington State University recently celebrated a dedication ceremony for the new Schweitzer Engineering Hall on its Pullman campus in Pullman, Wash., according to university news. The facility measures 66,288 square feet, and its completion marks the first milestone in a larger university effort to modernize the engineering and design district.

  • UNH Marks Construction Milestone on Oceanic Exploration Facility

    The University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H., recently celebrated a major construction milestone with a beam-signing ceremony for the new Center of Excellence for Operational Ocean and Great Lakes Mapping, according to a news release. The facility’s ultimate goal is to support research, training and technical assistance in ocean mapping.

  • Missouri Child Development Center Completes $2.3M Expansion

    The Urban Sprouts Child Development Center in St. Louis, Mo., recently announced the completion of a $2.3-million expansion and adaptive reuse project, according to a news release. The new space includes a retail café, outdoor learning space, and a support office building.

  • Montclair State University Starts Construction on $120M STEM Building

    Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., recently broke ground on a new $120-million Interdisciplinary Science Building, according to university news. The university partnered with HoK Architects for the project’s design, and it’s scheduled to open in time for the 2028–29 academic year.