Kisel, J. (2012). April
New facilities at South Lake Tahoe, California are making strides in sustainable design. With grant money, research and designed spaces are offering innovative learning spaces for students. The components of school building designs are creatively meeting educational needs.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), (2012).
Corey Schultz discusses the benefits and design concepts of multi-use school and community shelters.
Environmental Protection Agency (2012). (EPA 402-F-03-012)
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed this resource to help school districts and facility planners design the next generation of learning environments so that the school facility will help -- rather than hinder -- school in achieving their core mission of education children (1-pg resource).
University of Massachusetts Amherst / adaptiveNOW.com (2012).
The UMass Permaculture Initiative is a unique, cutting-edge sustainability program that converts unproductive grass lawns on campus into ecological, socially responsible, and financially sustainable permaculture landscapes that are easy to replicate. Since the Initiative’s inception, over 1,500 volunteers have come together to design, implement, and maintain our three gardens. Through community support and a partnership with UMass Dining Services, the UMass Permaculture Gardens provide the campus dining halls with more than a thousand pounds of hyper-local, organic food each year. Permaculture is a natural fit in a campus setting. UMass's highly visible gardens are an excellent educational tool and provide opportunities for service-learning on campus. In addition to implementing gardens, UMass Permaculture offers a range of community building events, workshops, and educational opportunities to engage UMass and broader communities around regenerative and resilient communities and ecosystems. For more information, visit www.UMassPermaculture.com
National Center for Safe Routes to School (2012).
This document provides information on how to understand walking and bicycling safety issues in and around school facilities. Physical environment characteristics and behaviors to observe are listed.
Satterly, S. (2012). Retrieval Location
This article is a refresher of current best practices for tornado sheltering for schools, as well as an explanation of why they have become best practices. The process to change protocals so changes are made in a thoughtful and logical manner are described.
Environmental Protection Agency (2012).
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed these voluntary guidelines to assist states in establishing and implementing environmental health programs for K-12 schools in accordance with the Energy Independence & Security Act of 2007. In carrying out this statutory mandate, EPA, along with its federal partners, developed these guidelines to help states establish the infrastructure needed to support schools in implementing school environmental health programs. The practices recommended within these guidelines can also be applied, with appropriate adaptation, to a wide range of school-related institutions, including child care and early learning centers.
National Center for Safe Routes to School, America Walks, Coaching Action Network (2012).
Improving the condition of commuter routes to schools is important. Deciding which infrastructural improvements will have the greatest benefits is ideal before investing time and funds. This webinar will help prioritize projects at various schools. Examples from two communities are discussed to show how this prioritization process has been implemented.
IFF: Public Policy and Research Department (2012).
The Deputy Mayor for Education commissioned the Public Policy and Research Department of IFF, an expert in school quality issues, to conduct an analysis of the geography of school quality in the District of Columbia. Quality Schools: Every Child, Every School, Every Neighborhood, is a supply and demand analysis with the question, “What neighborhoods in the District of Columbia have the greatest need for performing seats?” and at the heart of this study. 39 neighborhood clusters were developed by the DC Office of Planning for community planning purposes and are approximate representations of the neighborhoods contained within them. All enrollment, capacity, and grade ranges listed are from the 2010-2011 school year, the year for which these schools were analyzed. DCPS and Charter school performance tiers are listed separately in the legend below only for clarification of map symbology. They were analyzed together in the IFF needs assessment.
Rob Jackson, P.E. (2012).
Every child has the right to attend school in safe buildings. Designing and constructing, seismically safe school facilities, is essential in order to mitigate the effects of a natural earthquake hazard. Using a four phase emergency process of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery, designers of schools as well as school administration may lessen the impact of substantial damage incurred during an earthquake.
