AAF School Design Institutes

Sharing Design Expertise with Superintendents and Communities

Through Great Schools by Design, superintendents from across the country have participated in the American Architectural Foundation’s (AAF) school design institutes. AAF’s goal for these sessions is to help these leaders achieve an educational vision for their school district through a greater understanding of their role in guiding the design of educational facilities.

In a school design institute, small groups of superintendents from across the country come together to discuss critical school development issues in their districts with a team of national experts in design and planning. Some typical issues addressed include school siting and size, small learning communities, sustainability, joint-use facilities, and security issues. This service is offered at no cost to participants, and is co-funded by AAF and presenting sponsor Target, along with other grants and contributions.

A special ongoing commitment has been undertaken to assist the Mississippi Gulf Coast communities in recovering from the hurricane devastation of August 2005. AAF continues to advise these communities on their redevelopment.

The Process

The process of preparing for a school design institute typically begins with a visit from AAF’s program director. The director works closely with the superintendent and their staff to help define the district’s most pressing needs and ensure a collaborative and valuable learning experience. School districts are required to submit a written summary that defines the project that they are seeking to have reviewed, as well as a statistical overview of the district so that the project can be set in context. Finally, each superintendent submits questions about their project or strategic plan that they hope to have addressed by the resource team. These materials are provided to all participants and are published as part of the report from the institute.

School Design Institutes are engaging, informal, and include everyone’s participation on each project—the resource team and the superintendents all review and comment on each project. The broad range of design issues associated with the individual projects benefit all superintendents. To encourage excellence in design so as to help improve student achievement and better serve the broader community, participants consider a range of issues relevant to educational facility planning and design.

The school design institute begins with an opening dinner and a keynote address on design excellence and major innovations in the design of educational facilities. The following day(s) consist of work sessions in which each resource team member discusses his or her area of expertise and each superintendent presents a project for review and comment. The small group format encourages informal and highly interactive discussions. Participants identify critical design issues and creative strategies for implementation. The work sessions provide a unique opportunity for school superintendents—and a rewarding learning experience, as noted in the testimonials of previous participants.