Today's educational leaders are confronted by a barrage of new and emerging technology options on a daily basis. The challenge becomes, how do educational leaders make decision in times of limited resources on which technology to invest our time, ene
The U.S. Department of Energy recently released a new resource for implementing a district- or school-wide energy-efficient operations and maintenance (O&M) program, the Guide to Operating and Maintaining EnergySmart Schools. We provide a brief overvi
Success is not achieved through creative budgeting or being frugal, it is achieved by simplifying, focusing our efforts, leveraging untapped resources, building in flexibility and being innovative. Focus only on the short-term, and you run the risk of sti
While the research is varied it is conclusive; the use of color can have a significant impact on emotion, which can ultimately influence an individual's working and studying. In fact, studies on emotion and color show a direct link between color and posit
The Modular Building Institute recently commissioned me to provide a report that specifically aligned the modular building industry with the Prerequisite and Credit requirements imbedded in the United States Green Building Council's (USGBC's) Le
If you face a crisis next year, your efforts today will determine how your response unfolds during that crisis. This is particularly true in two areas that are often not fully addressed in school crisis planning integration of the National Incident
The main idea of security is captured in the following areas deterrence (discouraging unauthorized actions), detection (recognizing unauthorized actions), delay (slowing unauthorized actions) and response (reacting to unauthorized actions). If you
Today's school officials often wish to achieve the best of two goals having solid security while maintaining a warm and caring human environment. These dual goals are actually often complimentary and can usually be accomplished with the right
What options are available for the rest of us? Most public schools have bare bones models, if that. Locker-related crises, usually involving contraband, have led some frustrated districts to toss the lockers altogether. Although such actions may be justif
Preparing for a pandemic influenza (panflu) outbreak is an extremely daunting task. It is essential that all school communities coordinate with other planning groups in preparation of a pandemic outbreak, and to establish operational protocols to help gui
More and more, we rely in technology for any but especially mass communication. And communication comes in many forms: between schools, between school personnel, between personnel and students, between school administrators/teachers and pare
Depending on the location of the application, the floor you choose for your school may need to meet specific safety, performance, or maintenance criteria. We'll examine some of the most widely used floors for educational settings, in order to guide y
It is common knowledge that when school budgets tighten, the maintenance department is first to feel the pinch. While cutting back on maintenance may seem to be a good economizer, teachers can't teach and students can't learn if the lights are o
Breaking a large high school into smaller ones is not easy. It must be done deliberately, with a philosophy and a long-range plan, and with the support of the faculty. If that is not done, there is a good chance that what is created will fall back into a
In NCLB's wake, much of the debate has focused on the instructional practices that will enable all students to meet the proficiency requirements by 2014. However, if this goal is to be realized, school districts must focus on how to ensure that appro
Integrated Cleaning and Measurement is a systematic approach to cleaning that entails using best practices to clean facilities and to measure the effectiveness of the cleaning program using a 21st century version of "the white glove" approach. I
Administrators, teachers, and students can spend an inordinate amount of time and frustration on getting updates for programs which were cutting edge yesterday and obsolete today; dealing with a bunch of different passwords and log-ins; trying to coordina
Since Governor Schwarzenegger's proposal to reduce education cost, digital textbooks have been receiving quite a bit of buzz. We talked with Neeru Kholsa, co-founder of CK-12, about the changes and advantages digital textbooks bring to school districts.
These days, traditional scholastic requirements, such as fostering academic excellence and molding good citizens, now go head to head on the priority list with heightened security needs, diversity issues, and the need to brand and differentiate to compete
A new phrase has popped up in the K-12 school lexicon: intergenerational campuses. In short, an intergenerational campus is a community-use campus on steroids; it is a campus that has something or perhaps many things of interest to people of all ages.