Great Schools by Design

is a national initiative of the American Architectural Foundation that seeks to improve the quality of America’s schools and the communities they serve by promoting collaboration, excellence and innovation in school design.

Learn more | Video overview

Latest News

AAF Hosts "Creating Effective Learning Environments in Historic and Non-Traditional School Facilities" in New York, NY
Read more

AAF Announces "Voices from the Field" Great Schools by Design Event
Read more

AAF Hosts Forum on Urban School Design
Read more

AAF and USGBC Host "Growing the Green School Design Movement" in Washington, DC.
Read more

 

Great Schools by Design is made possible by presenting sponsors Target and the American Architectural Foundation. AAF would also like to thank sponsors McGraw-Hill Construction, the American Institute of Architects, Cisco Systems, Inc., and KnowledgeWorks Foundation. Finally, we are grateful for the collaboration of our alliance partners. View a complete list of Sponsors and Partners

 

 

Why Great Schools by Design is important

  • More than 59 million students, teachers and education employees spend part of their day in schools
  • There are 120,000 schools in the U.S. Many of these are aging and in need of repair
  • $30 billion is spent annually on school construction, repairs and maintenance

Read more

Downloads & Reports

To view all AAF publications, please click here.

 

Winter 2007 School Design Institute
A Report of Findings

 

National School Design Institute, A Report of Findings

National School Design Institute
A Report of Findings

 

Schools Designed for Learning, Video and Discussion Guide

Schools Designed for Learning
Video and Discussion Guide