HOW HE SEES IT Rebuilding and rethinking U.S. schools

By RONALD E. BOGLE
KNIGHT RIDDER/TRIBUNE
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have displaced tens of thousands of students and severely damaged hundreds of school facilities in the Gulf region. Before the storms, $30 billion was expected to be spent this year on school construction in the United States. Much more will be needed now. The challenge is to invest it wisely.
At this critical moment, we have a unique opportunity and obligation to rethink the classic American schoolhouse and to design and build schools that serve the educational needs of the 21st century. Clearly, the stakes are high. Some 55 million students, teachers and, increasingly, community members spend a large part of their waking hours in schools. These facilities affect learning, health, safety, self-esteem and the well-being of all that use them.
Negative influences
In the past decade various studies have documented the impact of deteriorating or badly designed schools on students and teachers alike. Outdated classroom configurations, noise, extreme heat or cold, lack of natural lighting and poor air quality all negatively influence teachers' ability to teach and students' ability to learn.
We need to incorporate new ideas in teaching and learning in how we design our educational facilities. We need to make information on quality school design and construction readily available to local decision makers. And, we need to better engage all stakeholders on how schools affect communities.
When I served several years as the president of the Board of Education for the Oklahoma City Public Schools, I learned firsthand how difficult it is to find the latest thinking in design, understand how architecture can serve the learning process, see examples of best practices, evaluate new financing options, and access all the other critical information needed to guide projects of this magnitude.
My experience in Oklahoma and work with educators and architects helped inspire the American Architectural Foundation's national initiative called Great Schools by Design. This program aims to improve the overall quality of America's schools by promoting good design, encouraging collaboration in the design process and providing leading-edge resources to local school and community leaders.
We know from meetings with school stakeholders that good school design involves the intersection of pedagogy, architecture, technology, financing and community input.
As the communities of the Gulf region, and others across the country, think about new or renovated schools they should:
UDesign schools that retain and reflect the culture of the community they serve and support lasting community involvement;
UBuild flexible classroom configurations to allow for smaller class sizes and multi-use;
UMaximize natural lighting and natural ventilation;
UIntegrate technology throughout the school to support advanced teaching and learning and improve school safety;
UCreate spaces that incorporate outdoor environments, bringing the "outside" in to teach about the environment and sustainability;
UDevelop a dialogue process that involves all community and school stakeholders in the planning.
The educational facilities we design today are expected to last 50 or more years. While the Gulf region has immediate needs for schools, it is important that we take the time to plan, design and construct these facilities to serve the unique needs of each community. A "one-size-fits-all solution" is a sure recipe for failure. A failure we cannot afford in New Orleans, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Washington or in any of the many cities needing significant investment in educational facilities.
X Ronald E. Bogle is president and CEO of the American Architectural Foundation, Washington, D.C. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services