Betsy Ross Elementary in Houston

1. Betsy Ross Elementary in Houston Design for Learning projectCarolina Katz, architect, Master in Urban Planning, ENPC - ParisCarolina Melo, teacher, M.A. in Education Psychology, University of Arizona cmelo@uandes.cl – ckatz@uc.cl

2. Community recovery in Chile • Design for learning project • How school can help in solving community and social problems • School as community self assurance (daily and in disaster situations)

3. current situation • Schools as closed boxes in the neighborhood with no spacial, neither social, interaction with the community. • Classrooms as boxes that contains teaching activities not as spaces that enable learning.

5. Design for learning project:New spaces designed to improve learning and social involvement

6. The project works in two different scales: • The school exterior and interior design in order to be a “tool” for learning • The school in the neighborhood in order to have an important function in improving social behavior and the sense of community, specially in vulnerable neighborhoods or villages.

7. Proposal from Design for Learning Project for neighborhoods or villages : The school and the community Schools as community centers Community infrastructure as school facilities Learning win win procedure

8. The school in the neighborhood challengewin-win procedure Some interesting gains: • Parents and community involvement in education, improves learningfor both, students and parents, specially in vulnerable communities. • Schools capacity in attracting synergies may trigger citizens to act as a community. Schools as citizens’attractor may solve some community problems • Vibrant schools with interesting and dynamic activities for the community to enable social involvement

9. The school in the neighborhood challengewin-win procedure • Local signature (or identity)...”schools signature can be a compelling icon that defines a whole community”... Look for something about school and community that makes them special and unique enables community self-confidence • The school interacting with the community and the local authorities may be an excellent opportunity to improve education QUALITY!!! (school and local authorities working together)

10. The school in the neighborhood challengewin-win procedure Main Goals and challenges: • How to share spaces – flexibility, adaptability, sureness– a way to improve and multiply school and community facilities Spaces that provide “enabling form, resilient form, impelling form” - Randolph Hester, Landscape Architect • Manage shared funds – for construction, maintenance, activities - Negotiation challenges between local and schools authorities • Be able to improve and share knowledgefrom teachers to the community and vice versa (sea-weed production)

11. Some suggestions for the procedure • Observe users requirements and cultural behaviors • Have the authorities and the community in the plan side • Attract fundsand search for strategic support groups • Formulate an initial strategy and a simple implementation plan • Supervise and measure the implementation plan • Be open to change some strategies in order to respond to different actors necessities and unseen or unexpected scenarios

12. Final Goals • Contribute to assure and strengthen the community • Learn from the problems and success of the case studied • Test a model for further cases (keep replicability in mind)