Akron School Design Institute Report Released

After attending the National Summit on School Design held in Washington, D.C., in October 2005, Mayor Donald Plusquellic invited the American Architectural Foundation (AAF) to conduct a School Design Institute for the city of Akron, Ohio. Inspired by the educational planning and design concepts discussed at the summit, Mayor Plusquellic wanted to introduce these new ideas to his staff, to the staff of Akron Public Schools (APS), and to design professionals. He also wanted to encourage innovative thinking when people were considering how best to improve Akron’s public school facilities in support of student achievement and community involvement.

The Akron School Design Institute, held December 6-8, 2005, was organized to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas about systemwide planning and design and to encourage discussion of prevailing issues. The goal of the institute was to introduce innovative ideas and solutions to compelling design challenges for the benefit of local city and school officials. AAF brought together a team of experts to address the issues, which were posed in the form of questions.

A detailed Report of Findings on the Akron School Design Institute is now available. To download the report, click here.

Participants in the Akron School Design Institute included:

Akron City Officials
Donald L. Plusquellic, Mayor
Marco Sommerville, President, Akron City Council
David Lieberth, Deputy Mayor for Administration and Chief of Staff
Laraine Duncan, Deputy Mayor for Intergovernmental Relations and Education
Mark Williamson, Communications Director
Warren Woolford, Director, Planning–Urban Development
Jerry Holland, Director, Public Service
Tom Long, Design Administrator, PlanningDepartment

Akron Public School Officials
Sylvester Small, Superintendent, Akron Public Schools
David James, Executive Director, Business Affairs, Akron Public Schools
Paul Allison, President, Akron Board of Education
James Beal, AIA, School Architect

Ohio School Facilities Official
Jeff Tuckerman, Senior Project Administrator, Ohio School Commission, Summit County

Consultant
Leo Jennings, President, Progressive Solutions Group

Community Partners
Bernett Williams, President and CEO, Akron Urban League
Dan Colantone, President and CEO, Greater Akron Chamber

American Architectural Foundation Resource Team
Ron Bogle, President and CEO, American Architectural Foundation, Washington, DC (moderator)
Drew Becher, Deputy Director of Neighborhood Planning and Development/Urban Design, Division for the District of Columbia’s Office of Planning, Washington, DC
Tom Blurock, FAIA, Thomas Blurock Architects, Costa Mesa, CA
Tim Dufault, AIA, Principal, Cuningham Group, Minneapolis, MN
Janet Fiero, PhD, AmericaSpeaks, Washington, DC
Judy Marks, Hon. AIA, Associate Director, National Clearinghouse on Educational Facilities, Washington, DC
Tom Rogér, Vice President and Project Executive, Gilbane Building Company, New Haven, CT
Adam Rubin, Director, Policy and Research, New Visions for Public Schools, New York, NY
Herb Simmens, PhD, Blue Moon Fellow, Center for Architecture and Building Sciences Research,New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ

American Architectural Foundation Staff and Observers
Nancy Zivitz Sussman, Program Director
Elizabeth Corbin Murphy, FAIA, Regent, Akron, OH

KnowledgeWorks Foundation Staff
Terry Seery, Senior Program Officer