Members of school boards from across the country were briefed on cutting edge thinking in school design by a panel of experts, moderated by the American Architectural Foundation’s President Ron Bogle, during the 2005 National School Boards Association Conference in San Diego. Leaders from the fields of architecture, community development, and education each underlined the importance of embracing good design and involving the local community when creating the schools of the future. They spoke from experience about the benefits and difficulties of creating schools that are firmly grounded in the aspirations and needs of their particular communities, and sung the praises of such groundbreaking projects as the John A. Johnson Public School in Minneapolis. These community-based schools involve local residents, businesses, and organizations in the daily life of the school.
Perhaps the panel’s most important advice for school boards and communities was to “think differently” about schools and consider the long term benefits of thoughtful school planning and design – benefits that can include increased student attendance, higher test scores and achievement, economic rebirth in the surrounding neighborhood, and a vital presence in the community itself. As Steven Bingler, Principal Architect with Concordia Planning and Architecture said in the panel, “the community is like a body, and all systems must function together.” Other participants agreed, saying that our schools should not be separated from the communities that they serve, and that our communities should be a resource for local schools.
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