It's hard to believe that summer vacation is almost over and students will soon be returning to the classroom. For me, the summer has been filled with traveling to conferences and trade shows to find out more about what is on the horizon for educatio
In response to the United States' "failing" public schools, portfolio districts have been loudly championed as a new approach to school reform. A number of school districts in large cities have implemented this approach. Despite this, there are
Imagine
if a school could be designed and constructed to produce as much energy on site as what is consumed from the electric grid; electricity and gas bills at 10 percent or less of that of a typical building. No water bills for site and landscapin
When it comes to green cleaning, many administrators and custodial crews are now sitting back, comfortable that they understand it and have properly implemented it in their facilities, making their schools much healthier with a reduced impact on the envir
These Generation E students ("E" for feeling they are Europeans, sometime more than Spaniards) were singing the same woes as many urban, suburban and rural American citizen students. Like too many 11- to18-year-olds in public institutions, who i
As your school year ends, it would be a good time to look at your fire losses for each building in your district and reflect on not only what types of training need to take place to reduce the risk of these fires happening again, but to also look at what
Kalamazoo Central High School has been named as the winner of the first annual "Race To The Top Commencement Challenge" contest sponsored by the White House. The school's prize: President Barack Obama is graduation speaker for the K-Ce
As school districts are searching for sizable tracts of land that seem to be increasing in cost daily, and with bus transportation costs soaring, prioritization of land characteristics and access considerations for school sites will be ever more essential
A dedicated school intercom system is considered by many to be a life-safety device. It is the method by which day-to-day operational messages are distributed, but also serves as the facility's emergency communications system. Some schools have decid
As your school year ends, it would be a good time to look at your fire losses for each building in your district and reflect on not only what types of training need to take place to reduce the risk of these fires happening again, but to also look at what
Sometimes and depending on the issue school administrators and parents don't see eye to eye. When it comes to school drop off and pick up, however, both groups agree that safety is of the highest priority. And, while creating a safe tra
School districts are increasingly opening schools for multiple community functions that foster learning and neighborhood cohesion. As a true partner in the vitality of the community, schools provide spaces for PTA and Scouting organizations and other comm
While the better a school building's mechanical systems perform, the better the students perform, directors of facilities in most school districts are faced with the challenge of keeping their educational spaces at reasonable temperatures while keeping HV
At one time, the only way people could communicate was person to person, the mail, telephone and, perhaps, the new-fangled fax machine. But, outside of emergency responders, and stock market gamblers, has there been any appreciable gain in the quality of
Navigating postal regulations is like reading a treasure map: It can be difficult to know which end is up or even where to start, but once you reach the treasure (for school districts, the treasure is postage savings), you realize the journey was well wor
America's Schoolhouse Council (ASC), a national consortium of educational architects, planners and designers, conceived the demonstration program, dubbed "Flip This Classroom: Learning Environments Matter." Inspired by the Dunn & Dunn L
These three little known fire and life-safety tools fire curtain, smoke vents and stage curtains must be present and in working order if a fire marshal shows up and wants to inspect your theater or auditorium stage.
Learning to view the world through a different lens can be most revealing. Maximizing our efforts to build safer facilities by problem seeking can be an invaluable tool to reduce risk, exposure to civil liability and, most importantly, to improve safety.
We need a quality education system in order to grow the students who will become the talented scientists and engineers needed to keep us ahead of the curve. But in order to improve education, we too must invest in innovation.
When the headmaster of Cushing Academy, James Tracy, announced his school's plans to remove all the books from its library, the pronouncement did not go unnoticed. Not only the school community, but the public at large, had swift and strong reactions to t