National Summit on School Design Media Advisory

National Summit on School Design, October 6-8, 2005

The Inn and Conference Center at the University of Maryland
3501 University Blvd. East, College Park, MD
Media Contact: Helen Wechsler, American Architectural Foundation (202) 626-7372

Hosted by: American Architectural Foundation (Washington, D.C.) and KnowledgeWorks Foundation (Cincinnati, OH)

Attendance: 200 individually-invited participants from 38 states--local classroom teachers and school administrators, students, mayors, city planners, and other community leaders, plus education, community development and architecture experts, and government officials

Purpose:

To fundamentally rethink the way we design and modernize our educational facilities in the U.S. to reflect 21st century trends in education, learning and design. The goal is to help school districts make wise decisions about the $30 billion spent annually in the U.S. on school construction.
To explore the tensions and tradeoffs in dealing with policy issues such as school size, siting and community use.

Gulf Region Implications:

The work at the Summit has direct application to the Gulf communities that need to rebuild hundreds of schools damaged or destroyed from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. U.S. Senators Landrieu and Vitter have introduced legislation to provide $2 billion in school construction funding. There is growing concern that in the rush to rebuild school facilities, an opportunity will be missed to build facilities that best represent the learning needs and local requirements of these communities. (See Friday agenda highlights)

Agenda Highlights:

Thursday, October 6
1:15 pm - 2:00 pm	Ron Bogle, president of the American Architectural Foundation, Barbara Diamond, vice president of KnowledgeWorks Foundation and Jeff Speck, Director of Design at the National Endowment of the Arts
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm	School Design Principles for the 21st Century, Participant Discussion
3:15 pm - 5:20 pm	Trends Affecting the Future of School Design Michele Norris, National Public Radio, Panelists: Roy Pea, Ph.D., Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning; David Sciarra, Education Law Center; Roy Strickland, University of Michigan Urban Design Program; Elliot Washor, Ph.D., The Big Picture Company
7:45 pm	Remarks: Joseph P. Riley, Mayor of Charleston, S.C.
8:00 pm	“School Architecture: Doing the Wrong Thing Right,” Russell Ackoff, Ph.D. Noted author and Professor, Wharton School of Business

Friday, October 7
8:00 am - 9:30 am	A Conversation on the Classroom of the Future: R&D Developments Robert Ivy, Architectural Record, Wally Corwin, JELD-WEN, inc; Jason Cowell, Cisco Systems, Inc.; Richard Lord, Carrier Corporation; Ken Roy, Ph.D., Armstrong World Industries; Anne Taylor, Ph.D., University of New Mexico and Consultant to Herman Miller, Inc.
10:00 am - 1:00 pm	Participant Workshops: Exploring School Design Through Model Scenarios, PennPraxis and PennGSE
2:15 pm - 4:30 pm	Participant Workshops: Exploring School Design Through Model Scenarios, PennPraxis and PennGSE
1:00 pm	A Terrible Opportunity for New Orleans Schools, Steve Bingler, AIA, architect and technical consultant to Mayor Nagin on school design and construction (pending other participants)

Saturday, October 8
9:00 am - 10:30 am	Report on Summit Workshops, PennPraxis and PennGSE