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SMART GROWTH SCHOOLS. SMART GROWTH SCHOOLS. What is a Smart Growth School? 1. Definition 2. Benefits 3. Examples 4. Barriers. What is a Smart Growth School?. encourages community involvement allows students to walk or bike to school
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SMART GROWTH SCHOOLS What is a Smart Growth School? 1. Definition 2. Benefits 3. Examples 4. Barriers
What is a Smart Growth School? • encourages community involvement • allows students to walk or bike to school • acts as a neighborhood anchor, supports community use of school facilities • fits in well with neighborhood • makes good use of existing resources, such as historic school buildings • small in size
Smart Growth SchoolEncourages broad community involvement Sidney Pratt School and Community Education Center- B. Graff
Smart Growth SchoolAllows students to walk or bike to school
Smart Growth SchoolAllows students to walk or bike to school
Smart Growth SchoolActs as a neighborhood anchor, supports community use of school facilities
Smart Growth SchoolActs as a neighborhood anchor, supports community use of school facilities Sidney Pratt School and Community Education Center- B. Graff
Smart Growth School Fits in well with the surrounding neighborhood
Smart Growth School Fits in well with the surrounding neighborhood
Smart Growth School Makes good use of existing resources, such as historic school buildings
Smart Growth School Makes good use of existing resources, such as historic school buildings
What are the benefits of Smart Growth Schools? • Improve Educational Outcomes • Save Money • Promote Greater Community Involvement • Improve Student Health
BenefitsImprove Educational Outcomes students at small schools: • have higher grade point averages • participate in more extracurricular activities • attend more regularly • feel a sense of belonging Karen Febey and Joe Nathan Smaller, Safer, Saner, Successful Schools
Benefits Improve Educational Outcomes Lewis and Clark High School #1 average SAT scores in Spokane, Washington
Benefits Improve Educational Outcomes The H.H. Battle Academy of Teaching and Learning and the Tommye F. Brown Academy of Classical Studies in Chattanooga, TN The school district joined forces with University of Tennessee, Chattanooga and local philanthropic organizations to fund two downtown magnet schools. Through this unique partnership additional resources are available, such as improved educational instruction. The teachers receive special additional training through the University of Tennessee.
School transportation costs have doubled in the last 25 years. As schools were built farther from the students they serve, the miles traveled by school buses increased 24% between 1986 and 1996. (Strange, 2001, pg.4) School Transportation Costs for California 1996-97: $784 million 2000-01: $1.04 billion Benefits Save Money
Benefits Save Money A study of school siting in Bend, Oregon found that annual transportation costs at neighborhood schools could be 32% lower than at sites on the edge of the community. Evans and Associates Bend-LaPine School District Siting Study August 1997
BenefitsSave Money Parents worked out a public/private development partnership to independently fund the modernization of the Oyster Bilingual Elementary School in Washington, D.C.
BenefitsGreater Community Involvement In St. Louis,… the Washington University Medical Center, the St. Louis Cardinals, and McCormack Baron developers teamed up with the school board and citizens to reclaim a vacant historic school and revitalize a depressed neighborhood. Adams Elementary School Adams Park Community Center St. Louis, Missouri
Benefits Greater Community Involvement Adams Elementary School Adams Park Community Center Adams Elementary School-Sam Fentress Adams Elementary School Gym-Alise O’Brien
BenefitsImprove Student Health 80% of children don’t walk to school. The most commonly mentioned barrier to walking is distance. C.D.C. Morbidity and Mortality Report August 16, 2002
BenefitsImprove Student Health Mean Streets 2000, STPP Based on data from the Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
BenefitsImprove Environmental Quality Well-planned school sites: • Reduce driving • Reduce air pollution • Reduce need for school parking lots, reducing polluted runoff
BenefitsImprove Environmental Quality Substantial research links ozone and particulate air pollution with worsened symptoms and increased hospitalization for asthma A recent study for the first time documented children exercising in high ozone areas are at higher risk of becoming asthmatics
BenefitsImprove Environmental Quality Storm water runoff impairs drinking water treatment, making children up to two times more likely to get sick from gastrointestinal illnesses.
Examples of Smart Growth Schools • Renovate an Existing School • Build a Well-Designed New School in an Existing Community • Retrofit a Non-Educational Facility for use as a School Building • Build a Well-Designed New School for a Walkable New Neighborhood
Thompson Middle School Newport, RI Renovate an Existing School Located just off Newport’s Main Street downtown, the historic Thompson School serves as a community center as well a school. Newport’s Mayor Sardella says the renovated school helped to revitalize Newport’s downtown.
Thompson Middle School Newport, RI The school district renovated a 1897 school building and built two new wings on either side of it. Thompson Middle School-Wayne Soverns, Jr.
Thompson Middle School Newport, RI Residents attend civic meetings in the school’s cafetorium. Thompson Middle School-Wayne Soverns, Jr.
Jefferson Elementary SchoolManitowoc, WI Build a Well-Designed New School in an Existing Community The school board had land available on the edge of town, but followed community wishes to build a new school in town on the site of a much beloved but outdated elementary school.
Jefferson Elementary SchoolManitowoc, WI The new school uses classical architecture and incorporates murals saved from the old school while providing state-of-the-art facilities.
The Village at Indian Hill Pueblo School Complex Pomona, CA Retrofit a Non-Educational Facility for use as a School Building In the mid-90’s 1/3 of students in the Pomona Unified school district were in temporary classrooms. The school district needed to build new schools, but was having trouble finding suitable sites. The district did find an aging 550,000 square foot shopping mall.
The Village at Indian Hill Pueblo School Complex Pomona, CA The Village how consists of 3 elementary schools, 1 high school, staff training centers, Head Start, a child care center and retail shops.
Woodland Elementary SchoolFairview, OR New School for New Neighborhood Outside of Portland, Oregon developers of a new smart-growth style development worked with businesses and the school district to bring a new elementary school to the town. They felt a school was essential to the success of their plan to build a complete ‘smart growth’ community.
Woodland Elementary SchoolFairview, OR The school is within a quarter mile of home in the Village, and federal transportation funds helped build a lighted walking trail from the Village to the school.
What are the barriers to Smart Growth Schools? • 2/3, 60% Rule, Financial Biases Against Renovation • Site Standards • Inadequate Feasibility Studies
“Our current policies encourage the construction of massive, isolated schools that are inaccessible to the communities they serve. One of the keys to improving education is a sense of community where teacher, student and parent all feel a sense of ownership in their school.”Governor Mark Sanford, South Carolina2003 State of the State Address
Barriersand Solutions 2/3 Rule 60% Rule Many states recommend that new schools be built whenever the costs of renovating existing schools exceeds some arbitrary percentage of new construction costs. This policy is adopted even when renovation options could yield “like new” schools at a significant savings to the public.
BarriersandSolutions Pennsylvania has eliminated its 60% rule. Maryland’s Public School Construction Program favors renovating versus constructing new schools.
Unreasonable Site Standards 1 acre for every 100 students + 10 acres for an elementary school +20 acres for a middle school +30 acres for a high school Barriersand Solutions
Barriers andSolutions The State of Maine published a brochure, “The ABC’s of School Site Selection.” It promotes smart growth concepts in school facility planning. Avoid sprawl! Be site savvy! Consult the community!
Inadequate Feasibility Studies Many people, including many school architects, are unfamiliar with renovation options and techniques. As a result the costs of renovation are often overestimated and renovation possibilities are overlooked. Barriersand Solutions
Barriers andSolutions The Columbus Landmarks Foundation conducted a study of selected historic schools in an effort to demonstrate renovation to state-of-the-art standards is less expensive than new construction. THE RESULTS….. 4 schools examined demonstrated significant savings through renovation. The savings totaled $9 million.
SMART GROWTH SCHOOLSTHE END Thompson Middle School-Wayne Soverns, Jr.