The A4LE LearningSCAPES 2018 conference came to a close last Sunday after four days of discussion and collaboration among educational facility planners, designers, vendors, and educators from across the nation. With 60 sessions offered throughout the weekend, there was no shortage of learning opportunities. Here are some of our team’s key takeaways from their weekend in Chicago alongside other industry experts.

Security & Safety

Safety in schools has always been a hot topic of conversation and was definitely a trending discussion throughout the conference. There were sessions that discussed the patterns of safety incidents and their influence on the design of schools, how they operate, and how different spaces are utilized; researched code compliant lockdown devices and creating a secure 21^st century classroom; and incorporated hands-on activities that explored various guidelines and tools for designing security strategies and site-specific safety measures. With such a variety of methods and practices to keep students and staff safe, it’s becoming clearer that there’s no one-size-fits-all prescription for security measures in schools and that developing plans for emergency situations needs to be a custom fit for your school and district.

Spaces Resembling the Workplace

Schools are developing curriculums that are oriented towards workplace environments and refreshing their culture of learning to develop broad career interests of students, immersing them in what their future day-to-day could look like. With specialty spaces ranging from commercial-style culinary arts kitchens to BioMed laboratories, there’s a shift in instruction, from teacher-centered to learner-centered. This new focus integrates experiential learning to prepare students with future-ready skills, but it also means that districts are beginning to rethink their facilities in response to this comprehensive educational model. Think: maker spaces, arts spaces, outdoor learning areas, and upgraded science rooms.

Technology & Flexibility in Learning Environments

The ever-evolving trends in K-12 are proof that we simply can’t know what education environments will look like in 5-10 years. And with collaborative layouts, lightweight, easily rearranged furniture, and the need for classrooms resembling studios more so than lecture halls, the systems maintaining these spaces must have the flexibility to adapt to the various needs of the students and staff now more than ever. More and more, classrooms themselves are being used as learning tools. From exposed building systems to integrated technology design, students are learning in hi-tech, hi-touch environments where paper and pencils are becoming a thing of the past as audio-video systems and hand-held technologies are establishing their territory as a primary source of presenting curriculum.

Master Planning & How We Can Help

When planning for your district, “the way we’ve always done it” is not the path you want to take. Looking at the future of your facilities, the focus should be on addressing growth and aging infrastructure, incorporating flexible learning environments, and engaging community partnerships. Encouraging and facilitating community-wide input is key in making fiscally responsible recommendations for your district. Whether it’s assessing current conditions of an existing building or exploring new construction due to growth, engaging a trusted building systems design firm that has expertise in both areas can help reduce costs and bring a valuable perspective on potential risks and how to avoid them. So, let’s do away the “we’ve always done it this way” mentality and replace it with a “team work makes the dream work” approach.

Students Over Spaces

As we were reminded last weekend, Generation Z students are the most connected, educated, and sophisticated in history. They’re not just here to represent the future, they’re actively creating it. And when it comes to the future of learning environments, flexibility is crucial to successful designs – not just for teachers and facilitators, but for the students themselves. Whether you’re a facility manager, architect, engineer, vendor, contractor, or part of the surrounding community, we must all work together to create safe and collaborative learning spaces that these students deserve.

To learn more about how Henderson can help bring your K-12 building to life and view our recent projects, click here.