Category: Guides and Manuals

2014

In 2013, Beaverton School District (BSD) embarked on a process of development of new Educational Specifications (Ed Specs) for the planning and design of future school projects. An Educational Specification is a document facility planners, architects and engineers use to develop, plan and design new schools or modernize existing ones. Ed Specs describe the facility vision, spaces, relationships between spaces and specific physical characteristics of each space in a new or modernized school.

The basis of the Ed Spec is the educational program. Educational programs require space which needs to be configured with certain physical attributes and characteristics. In essence, the shape and nature of place supports educational programs. Without a place to teach and careful consideration of a school’s educational needs, learning is impacted.

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2008

This Elementary School Educational Specification is a critical component of the Long Beach Unified School District Facility Master Plan. Developed as a component of that overall process, the Educational Specification is a detailed outline of essential components of each elementary school facility to be built in Long Beach as part of the Facility Master Plan. It is a City-wide statement, and will apply to all upcoming elementary school projects, but will be adjusted as appropriate to the needs of each individual school construction project.

Prototype Ed Specs ES_Long Beach CA 2008

Montgomery County Public Schools, 2010

This document describes the facilities that are needed for the SAMPLE Elementary School educational program. The descriptions provide the architect with important guidelines and will be used by staff representatives when reviewing drawings for the facility.

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2016

The Project Planning Committee reviewed and revised the High School, Middle School and Elementary School Educational Specifications (Ed Specs) from July through November of 2014. The meetings occurred on July 17th, September 4th, October 2nd, and November 3rd. In addition, the group toured Oxon Hill HS on November 17th to compare it to the final draft of the Ed Spec. The final draft is the result of the participant‟s recommendations, suggestions, and guidance during the process of creating prototypical educational specification standards for all PGCPS elementary schools.

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Seattle Public Schools, 2013

These educational specifications are the written record through which educators and other stakeholders identify the program factors that are necessary for teaching and learning in order to inform architects and engineers during the design process.

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Lake Washington School District, 2013

The purpose of educational specifications is to provide guidelines for planning educational facilities. It is a document that provides guidelines for the design of a school building, connecting a school district’s educational philosophy with the built environment (site and building).

The Lake Washington School District educational specifications are divided into separate components: a vision description and a performance-based specification. Both components are applicable to any major school construction project - whether the project is a modernization, a replacement or a new school.

The vision description and performance-based specification are the baseline for the design of the new and the replacement projects included the 2014 bond. The previous educational specifications, completed in 1998 and updated in 2005, were used for all Phase One and Phase Two major construction projects. The document has been revised in 2013 to reflect knowledge gained from Phase One and Two work, and updates of the District’s vision and goals. The education specification is intended to be an eight-year document, and will be updated again in 2020-2021.

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2008

This High School Educational Specification is a critical component of the Long Beach Unified School District Facility Master Plan. Developed as a component of that overall process, the Educational Specification is a detailed outline of essential components of each high school facility to be built in Long Beach as part of the Master Plan. It is a City-wide statement, and will apply to all upcoming high school projects, but will be adjusted as appropriate to the needs of each individual school construction project.

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Portland Public Schools, 2014

The following is the Educational Specifications for comprehensive high schools. It is based on the Vision Statement/Themes and input from teachers and administrators at the high school level. This is a living document and should be revised and updated as new information is discovered and educational programs evolve. In essence, that Educational Specifications is a working document. It represents a foundation on which master planning and design work can begin. It is specific enough to outline desired building design characteristics all comprehensive high schools in PPS should have. However, it is intended to be broad enough to allow site based design decisions and modifications. Illustrations and diagrams are provided as concept level information and are not presented as design requirements.

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California Department of Education, 1997

The purpose of this document is to assist school district staff, in cooperation with school and community leaders, in preparing educational specifications.  The document includes a definition of the specification, suggested procedures, and a model format.  More importantly, the purpose is to help craft visions for educational progams fo the twenty-first century and the facilities necessary to support those visionary goals.

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Alaska Department of Education, 2005

The initial step in the creation of a school facility that effectively meets the needs of students, teachers, administrators, and community members is the formation of a clear, concise, written facility program statement. This written program statement is the educator’s opportunity to articulate the educational program of the school to the professional designer. The written program statement, through further development, becomes the “program for design” that articulates the scope and requirements for a completed facility. Educators have come to call this program for design an “educational specification.” The success of the educational specification in communicating the school facility’s needs to the professional designer plays a large part in the overall success of a school facility construction or improvement project.

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