Project-Based Learning
The Top 10 Things I Learned From Building a $51M PreK–12 Campus
By John Stoddard (with John Peretz)
The Backstory
On a beautiful August evening in Burton, Ohio, Berkshire
Local Schools Superintendent John Stoddard collected his
thoughts before the community ribbon-cutting ceremony for
their new PreK-12 school. Not knowing what to expect in terms
of attendance, Stoddard watched as more and more people gathered
to check out the beautiful facility, built on the Kent State
University–Geauga campus. There was unmistakable energy
from the estimated crowd of over 2,000 people, more than the
entire population of the Village of Burton. As Stoddard and his
school board members cut the ribbon and opened the school for
the general public to see, Stoddard had a moment to pause and
reflect. This was one long journey.
Over ten years in the making, the new school was finally
ready to open. School board president John Manfredi made
some impactful opening comments about the school and
what it meant for the community. But, as with any enormous
endeavor, the public saw only the finished campus—not all the
hard work, funding hurdles and decisions that were made along
the way. But those in the school-building process know better.
John Stoddard recently sat down with education writer John
Peretz to give the inside scoop on what he learned and the advice
he’d give others just starting the process. Here are his top 10 tips.
1. Build Consensus Early
As educators, we often hear the words “soft skills,” and
you will use many of them during a new school build.
Communication, flexibility, teamwork, problem-solving,
empathy, adaptability, and (perhaps most importantly) stress
management will all be essential.
With your initial team in place, aligning the overall vision
with your most important stakeholders is essential. Sharing
thoughts and ideas and forming a common vision will be crucial
to your success.
2. Be Ready for the Levy One of the most important steps you can take is to get ready
for the levy. Unfortunately, most first-time referendums fail—not because of a lack of vision, but from a reluctance of voters to
pass additional tax hikes. Even more strikingly, voters may not
trust the school board or administration.
We were fortunate because voters passed our bond measure
by almost a 2-1 margin. But we did a lot of preparation. For
example, we made sure we had yard signs in support of the
measure, about 750–1,000 in all. In preliminary meetings, we
had people we knew ask the first 5-10 questions, since this can
often lead to the direction a meeting will go.
We also brainstormed many potential objections (such as an
increase in taxes) and focused on the value that good schools
bring to property values.
We also stressed the value of having a more prepared
workforce and the importance of having more options for our
students to achieve the American dream.
3. Create Powerful Partnerships
Creating meaningful partnerships was critical to our new
school campus. We secured a 99-year land lease on the Kent
State University–Geauga campus for $1. This should be a winwin
situation, since we’ll be providing new students to Kent
State, and our families will have the opportunity to jump-start
their children’s college careers while still in high school. This is
a huge financial win for our rural community.
We were also able to add trade tracks for diesel mechanics
and other options through a unique partnership with the
Auburn Career Center.
Our partnership also extends into healthcare. Our students
will be able to participate in a new healthcare track with Kent
State University and University Hospitals. The ever-increasing
demand for skilled healthcare workers allows students to take
classes and become employed in entry-level healthcare jobs right
out of high school.
Finally, don’t forget about corporate sponsors and nonprofits.
We were able to receive $2 million from the generosity of
Great Lakes Cheese Company for a beautiful outdoor stadium.
We also received funding from the KeyBank Foundation for
makerspace equipment and training.
4. Tour Other New Schools and Facilities
Take the time to see what other new schools are doing.
There’s a lot of new technology and design out there, with
different price points. We took tours and talked with the
administrators and teachers of several schools to see what they
liked and learned during the process.
With our school being built in Ohio, some of the more open
and outdoor designs wouldn’t have worked for our more extreme
climate. We also asked for specific construction considerations,
such as a sloped roof instead of a flat roof, because of the snow weight and freeze issues for our campus.
We also looked at other business and office designs for
inspiration. We took the team out to Inventionland headquarters
in Pittsburgh, Pa. They’re one of the largest invention factories
in the world and have sixteen unique work areas, such as a
pirate ship, tree house, creation cavern, and race track, where
their people work. On our way back, we said, “Why can’t we
do something like that?”, and eventually did precisely that in
our new campus.
5. Align to Your Instructional Approach
Our school district is committed
to project-based learning (PBL) as a
foundational element of our teaching
method. We want our students not
just to be able to memorize and repeat
facts but learn through a multidisciplinary
approach through projects
that incorporate what they’ve learned.
This impacted our building
design. We have an “x-pattern,” with
four distinct wings that house PreK
through kindergarten, elementary-,
middle-, and high-school classrooms,
respectively. At the end of each wing,
we created project-based learning
spaces that are really fun, including a cabin, pirate ship, tree
house, robot room, sci-fi area and more. We think it’s hard to be
creative when working out of a beige box classroom all day long.
But we did this because it aligned perfectly with our project-based
learning approach, not simply for the sake of being different.
6. Hire an Owner Representative
One thing I wish I had done is to hire an owner
representative. But, of course, that’s hindsight. Not having an
owner representative made it harder on everyone since we’re
not construction experts. Our finance team and school board
members helped through the process, but I believe it would
have been better with an owner representative.
7. Be Prepared for Value Engineering
You will most likely face the reality of cost issues versus your
original wish list. So, my suggestion would be to be prepared for
these, as they will more than likely come up.
8. Choose your Partners Wisely
In pre-planning and touring different
schools, ask the administrative staff and
teachers what they liked and didn’t like in the
new school build. Many vendors have glowing
testimonials from past clients. Always try
and dig a little deeper. Ask what issues arose
during the building process and how they were
handled. Getting the right people to work with
you is essential, as a certain amount of conflict
resolution will likely be necessary.
9. Add Time to your Schedule
In starting a new business, an old saying
says, “It usually takes twice as long and twice
as much as you think it’s going to.” In our case,
our costs were fixed and set, but that’s not to say we didn’t have
to do some value engineering and find other sources of revenue
through donors and corporate sponsors.
And our school took longer than we initially thought it
would, primarily due to the pandemic, supply-chain issues, and
staffing issues. So, while we thought we were conservative with
our timing, my takeaway is we probably should have built even
more of a time buffer.
10. Have Thick Skin and Expect the Unexpected
Building a new school or campus
is a privilege and probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As educators,
we already know we have a target
on our backs. Building a new school
has its challenges, especially with
unanticipated situations that are
bound to come up.
Put the extra layer of skin on, and
be ready for the unexpected. You’ll
almost certainly have people without
full knowledge of the situation
question your motives, decisions and
approach. It simply goes with the
territory.
Final Thoughts
Building a new school will turn your life upside down for several
years, even in the best-case scenario. But you can make an
enormous difference with the right team on your side. Be prepared
for the ups and downs, unexpected circumstances, and
potential naysayers you’ll meet along the way. But keeping your
eye on the bigger picture of what this will mean for your community
will make it all worthwhile.
John Stoddard has been the superintendent of Berkshire Local
Schools since 2017. Before Berkshire, Stoddard spent 17 years at
Oak Hills Schools, a suburban Cincinnati school district where
he held the role of Principal for J.F. Dulles Elementary School,
Rapid Run Middle School, and Oak Hills High School.