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Knapp, Noschis, and Pasalar, 2007

The XII Architecture & Behaviour Colloquium took place in Monte Verita (Ascona, Switzerland) from March 29 to April 1, 2006 and was a very productive meeting. Its theme was Architectural Quality in School Buildings: School Building Design and its Relevance to Students’ Learning Performance – With a Specific Focus on the Planning and Design of Schools in Developing Countries.

The Colloquium was the twelfth in a series of meetings of which several have been devoted to architectural issues related to cultural contexts outside Europe. This Colloquium brought together academic researchers and architects from Europe and America, furthermore representatives from the Ministries of Education and School construction from Middle East countries (in this case Yemen, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestine territories) as well as experts from organisations subsidising the construction of schools in developing countries (World Bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), European Investment Bank, Swiss Development and Cooperation). The group of about 30 persons discussed intensively and passionately during three days in the magnificent surroundings of the Ticino Canton overlooking Lake Maggiore.

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Schneider, 2002

On any given school day, about twenty percent of American's spend time in a school building.  The average age of our schools is close to fifty years, and studies by the U.S. General Accounting Office have documented widespread physical deficiencies in many of them.  Faces with an aging building stock and growing, shifting student enrollments, states and communities are working hard to build and modernize K-12 facilities.

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Charter School Facilities Initiative, 2015

The National Charter School Resource Center ("Resource Center"), the Colorado League of Charter Schools (“League”), the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (“Alliance”) and the California Charter Schools Association (“CCSA”), published this report, entitled “An Analysis of the Charter School Facility Landscape in California,” detailing the status of charter school facilities in the state.

In the spring of 2014, the above organizations worked to collect evidence about charter school facilities and facilities expenditures in the state of California. The data collection in California was supported by the Charter School Facilities Initiative (CSFI); a national project developed by the League to research charter school facilities and facilities funding across the country. Since 2011, the League’s work, through the CSFI, has been supported by the U.S. Department of Education’s Charter Schools Program through a subcontract with the Resource Center.

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Derlikowski of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families

The quality of school facilities can have a major impact on the education that our children receive and whether they succeed in school. Research, court decisions, and states have long recognized that disparities in access to basic school facilities can lead to differences in educational outcomes, especially for low-income students. This brief makes the case that state funding for school facilities should be increased to meet the needs of all districts. The official standard, that facilities need only be warm, safe, and dry, is not good enough.

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Charter School Facilities Initiative, 2013

The Rhode Island League of Charter Schools, the Colorado League of Charter Schools, and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools publish this report, entitled “An Analysis of the Charter School Facilities Landscape in Rhode Island,” detailing the status of charter school facilities in the state.

In winter of 2013, the above organizations worked to collect evidence that would accurately portray both the adequacy of charter school facilities1 and the average amount of operating funds spent by charter schools on facilities. Collectively, the results described in this report provide evidence that charter school students in Rhode Island do not have access to the same sized facilities, facilities amenities and/or funding compared to traditional public school students in the state.

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Environmental Protection Agency

Portable, or "relocatable", classrooms have been a feature of many school districts for years. From a district's perspective, the two advantages of portable classrooms are low initial cost and short time between specification and occupancy. They are intended to provide flexibility to school districts, enabling quick response to demographic changes and providing the ability to be moved from one school to another as demographics change. In reality, portable classrooms are seldom moved and become permanent fixtures of the school.

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Sacks, 2014

The auditorium is a central and important space in any high school lucky enough to have one. It is used for all types of formal assembly: lectures, award ceremonies, dramatic plays, musical theatre productions, concert performances of orchestra, band, chorus, jazz band, battles of the bands, dance competitions and so on. These varied events place a range of demands on the room. For all events, it is essential that everyone in the room hear, clearly and enjoyably, everything that is presented. This is the goal of acoustical design for auditorium spaces.

The acoustical design of an auditorium is different than that of any other high school space, because of the specific demands of the performing arts, which distinguish the auditorium from a common lecture hall. The auditorium will provide many students their first introduction to performing arts, both as audiences and as performers. We would like for this introduction to be a positive one, and we strive to provide a space that is highly functional, artistically flexible, easy-to-use and satisfying for performers and audience.

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Fickes, 2015

In the Monty Python movie “Life of Brian,” a scene shows a crowd listening as Jesus delivers the Sermon on the Mount. The camera moves back over the crowd to the back where no one can hear anything of the Beatitudes. They call out to the people just in front of them asking what is being said. They can barely hear, and they are not getting it quite right. Suddenly someone turns around and reports that Jesus just said: “Blessed are the cheesemakers.”

“So this magnificent lesson, one of the great lessons of history was lost to the people in the back rows because they couldn’t hear it,” says David Lubman, an acoustics consultant based in Westminster, Calif., who enjoys telling that story when discussing the importance of good acoustics to learning in schools.

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Palmese, 2014

There are approximately 133,000 schools in the U.S., with 10,221 of them, serving more than 6.2 million students, in California. Seventy-one percent of classrooms in the state are more than 25 years old and in need of repair or upgrading. As the economy forces school districts to slow their new building plans, they are focusing, at least for the time being, on their existing facilities, doing what they can to implement energy and water efficiency projects, installing renewable energy sources and greening their everyday operations.

It’s no longer debatable that even modest sustainability upgrades save money, and that savings can go into a district’s general fund. The “Catch 22” at present is that finding the funding to pay for saving money can be difficult. Creative financing options are needed, and Green Technology is working on a special project to document innovative financing options for green building, energy efficiency, renewable energy, water efficiency and the myriad of other sustainable aspects of building and running schools and community colleges.

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National Charter School Resource Center, 2013

A wide range of outdoor work and learning opportunities are available to charter school students, among others. The programs are offered through a variety of federal agencies and partnerships with nonprofit organizations. Although many of the programs have existed for years, connecting students with education involving parks and wilderness areas has new emphasis. For example, in 2012, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of the Interior announced an agreement to expand outdoor education and access for students attending high-need schools. Over the years, programs have included those directly run by federal agencies, as well as those supported by grants or cooperative agreements with nonprofit organizations that can also include private funding. This feature of the National Charter School Resource Center monthly newsletter provides examples of programs, including a charter school that was started to serve Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) participants, and resources to help charter schools connect with opportunities. Some of the diverse youth development and land conservation programs that exist across the country operate throughout the year, and others focus on summer. Programs include development of skills such as using a chainsaw, heavy equipment operation, environmental planning, and other training related to land conservation and restoration. Compensation, in addition to the experience, can include hourly wages, stipends, scholarships, and credits that count toward graduation.

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