Provides guidance to Maryland school districts in planning schools that support smart growth. Topics covered include walkability, bicycle access, environmental protection, high performance buildings, schools as community centers, school and site size, co-location and shared use, and energy efficiency in school transportation. Case studies accompany each topic and a model approach for school planning, location, and construction is included. 42 references complete the document. 78p.

Provides an introduction to school-centered community revitalization. Part 1 presents the case for integrating school improvement into community development, drawing on the academic research linking school and neighborhood quality as well as early results from school- centered community revitalization projects across the country. Part 2 presents the core components of school-centered community revitalization, including both school-based activities and neighborhood-based activities.The final part of the paper illustrates the diverse approaches currently being taken to improve schools and neighborhoods, drawing on the experiences of eight school-centered community revitalization initiatives in five cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia, and St. Paul. 30p.

Reviews the advantages of joint use of facilities and public/private partnerships in environments where taxpayers are particularly opposed to raising of local revenues. California examples are offered and include partnerships from both community college and K-12 districts. Includes 13 references. 4p.

Provides policy guidance to states for building and maintaining high-quality schools. The report identifies key areas needing attention, and covers school facilities and community planning, schools as centers of communities, public school facilities management, and public school facilities funding. Challenges, policy intent and rationale, and model policies are described under each topic, with examples of exemplary state legislation for each topic provided as well. 44p.

Promotes the community school as a primary vehicle to address the needs of the whole child, emphasizing the convergence of expertise from educational and community institutions. Case studies of co-location of educational and community services from eight cities are included, as are 30 references. 22p.

Reorts on how innovative cross-boundary leaders from education, local government, public, private and community-based agencies, business and other sectors are organizing themselves and their communities to create and sustain community schools. Numerous examples of successful community school endeavors are detailed, with advice to participants on how to achieve similar results. Includes 11 references. 42p.

Sets the United Kingdom policy context and provides advice on how local authorities and schools can design facilities in partnership with their communities, other agencies, and the private and voluntary sectors to deliver before- and after-school services.. It includes key questions which all schools can ask themselves as they think about the future and how best they can use one of their buildings. 136p.

Outlines community use of schools from an Australian perspective, including opportunities for use of schools by the community, benefits and features of school-community partnerships, types of agreements, and case studies. Guidelines for developing the legal framework and suggested details of joint use agreements are included. 36p.

Provides policy guidance and recommendations to officials and administrators at the state, local, and school district level to improve the creation of schools as centers of community. The recommended policies cover extensive and innovative community use of the public school facility, community partnerships that support high quality education and contribute to life-long learning, co-location with local government agencies and/or community organizations resulting in creative program service delivery and more efficient utilization of public land and buildings, and opportunities for new and/or additional sources of funds for financing building improvements and program delivery. Preservation of historic and other neighborhood schools is particularly encouraged. Best practices examples and a list of resources are also provided. 15p.

Outlines the Foundation's position on the value of community-use schools designed with community participation. Guiding principles for creating schools as centers of communities are offered, and the three action areas of community engagement, research on effective learning environments and smart growth, and promotion of schools as centers of community are described in detail. 13p.

This online video describes St. Paul's award-winning John A. Johnson Achievement Plus Elementary School, a state-of-the-art K-6 community school and neighborhood hub created in an abandoned high school that was restored, with a YMCA incorporated into the complex. The school was created with significant and complex community input, and is pivotal in the effort to revitalize this depressed neighborhood. The available discussion guide helps users replicate the process that created this school, outlining group discussion formats and questions, and steps for assessing the results of these discussions.

A community school differs from other public schools in important ways: it is generally open most of the time, governed by a partnership between the school system and a community agency, and offers a broad array of health and social services. It often has an extended day before and after school, features parent involvement programs, and works for community enrichment. Based on their own experiences working with community schools, the contributors to the volume supply invaluable information about how such a school should be organized, integrated with the school system, sustained, and evaluated.The book includes several contributions from experts, including a city superintendent, an architect, and the director of the Coalition for Community Schools. 304p.

Examines inter-governmental and inter-agency programs, and accompanying facility and capital coordination in seven cities and at the U.S. General Services Administration. In the study cities, public schools were found to be the most important entity around which coordination was developed, and the examples fall into three different categories or models: (1) community schools, which integrate social services for students into the school building; (2) co-location or joint use, which integrate services for the neighborhood into the school building; and (3) shared land use, which entails use of school land for other purposes, such as recreation or housing. The report examines how governmental management practices can affect program coordination and efficient use of facility and land assets as well as how authority for schools, social services, infrastructure and other public functions tend to be dispersed among state, county and city governments and one or more one or more school districts. In spite of each entity's autonomy in decision making, taxing, bonding, and implementing capital projects, it is possible to identify key elements of successful management practices that affect program coordination and facility and land use. 39p.

Describes two projects seeded by New Jersey's Communities of Learners campaign: a national design competition for a new high school in Perth Amboy, and an effort to create large scale public engagement in a community school master planning process in Plainfield. The successes, failures, and impediments realized through this experimental collaboration are chronicled, and recommendations on how to create schools as centers of communities are offered. 58p.

Helps districts that are developing community schools to understand the major elements of the design process, organize the participants, and find alternative financing. Explains New Jersey's School Renaissance Zone and Demonstration Project programs and relates them to the community school concept. Brief case studies and additional resources are supplied, and the roles of various public and private partners are explained. 22p.

Describes the inception and realization of this revered community school created within a restored 1911 St. Paul, Minnesota, high school building, and combined with an adjoining new YMCA facility. The community collaboration required for the condemnation of four homes and relocation of several businesses is described, along with the results of these moves. Restoration and renovation of the deteriorated high school, the design of the YMCA, and the naming process for the new facility are discussed. 42p.

Reviews the literature addressing the linkage between public schools and economic development. Information from academic research, organizational reports and popular media is included. The review examines potential economic impacts of public schools in the areas of national, state and local economic growth and competitiveness; real estate values; and the impact of the quality, size, and condition of school facilities themselves. The research found a positive influence in the first two areas, with emerging research and anecdotal evidence supporting a positive influence in the third. 43p.

This publication outlines a process for planning schools that more adequately addresses the needs of the whole learning community. It explores six design principles for creating effective learning environments, provides 13 case studies that illustrate various aspects of the six design principles, and examines the facilities master planning process for getting started and organized, including developing and implementing a master plan. It provides references, sources for additional information, photographs and plans. 76p.

This is a selected list of articles, books, and web sites covering the subject of combined and joint-use libraries. It covers the two most common types of combined libraries: public libraries combined with school library media centers and public libraries combined with academic libraries.

This report reaffirms the contribution made by historic neighborhood schools to their communities. It offers guidance to officials and local preservationists for creating state policies that help preserve and maintain historic community schools, and for building new schools that serve as community centers. The report describes state requirements for community involvement in school planning, the overly generous site standards that contradict the creation of community schools and preservation, and funding mechanisms that help preserve historic schools. Information for the report was gathered from telephone interviews, correspondence with state school facility officials,and online reviews of printed school facility standards. Includes 13 references. 32p.

This report features 20 community school models across the country that help to improve student performance by mobilizing community resources in support of student learning. These resources include after school, youth development, family support, health and mental health, parenting and adult education, employment, and other services and opportunities. This brings together research from multiple disciplines that support the five conditions for learning that the Coalition for Community Schools believes are necessary for all students to learn. The report also offers important lessons learned in creating community schools, and an action agenda for school and community leaders. 133p.

This 9 minute video shows parents and teachers, community members, and business partners coming together to design and build a new school and revitalize a community in Phoenix, Arizona. Capital Elementary School was designed not only to support the staff's educational goals, it fosters a sense of community among the diverse group of people who live, work, learn, and play in and around Capitol School.

Fifteen videos featuring panelists from the Schools as Centers of Neighborhood Vitality Symposium held at the Getty Center in May, 2003. The video clips can be viewed in dialup or broadband.

Presents a community redevelopment model that proposes partnering with an "intermediary" organization to engage in predevelopment project planning that leverages bond financing for a variety of community infrastructure projects, with schools at the heart of the strategy. The advantages of organizing redevelopment around new schools are described. 32p.

Examining the trend toward an older U.S. population, this publication discusses why educators and school facility planners should consider designing multipurpose schools that specifically contribute to stronger intergenerational links. Reasons include: ending age segregation, enriching the lives of children and seniors, creating support for public education, and keeping seniors healthy and learning. The twelve-page publication also discusses the challenges and opportunities of such efforts, including the diversity of retirees, issues of joint venture, funding, cost savings, accessibility, finding space, using space wisely, giving new life to historic school buildings, security, and staffing. The publication includes numerous case studies and fifteen references. 12p.

Examines how to increase community use of existing school facilities. A literature review and two case studies of schools in British Columbia confirmed that in addition to the need to modify education legislation, municipal legislation and the respective governing bodies, there is also a fundamental need to address obstacles, such as institutional inertia and materialist values. The project concludes with a set of recommendations designed to increase community use of existing school facilities in the two case study communities and elsewhere. 150p.

This paper explores the use of public schools as tools for community and economic development. As major place-based infrastructure and an integral part of the community fabric, public schools can have a profound impact on the social, economic, and physical character of a neighborhood. Addressing public schools, therefore, is a good point of entry for community-based developers to place their work in a comprehensive community-development context. The paper examines ways in which community-based developers can learn from, as well as contribute to, current community-based efforts, particularly in disinvested urban areas, to reinforce the link between public schools and neighborhoods. Furthermore, the paper considers the policy implications of including public schools in comprehensive development strategies, and asserts that reinforcing the link between public schools and neighborhoods is not only good education policy, but also good community-development policy and practice. An appendix presents contact information for organizations participating in school and community linkages. 55p.

This book is a step-by-step practitioner's guide to integrating health, family support, youth development, and other community services to support student learning. Topics include: 1) getting started; 2) building a range of services; 3) collaborating with the government and private sector; 4) staffing; 5) involving parents; 6) funding; and 7) working in rural and urban settings.

This paper addresses the topic of access to educational facilities by the public. It explains that many organizations and individuals request access to public educational facilities; while boards and administrators generally want to make them available for public use, problems sometimes arise when the nature of the group or proposed activity seems likely to be controversial or inconsistent with the purposes of the institution or character of the property. The paper explores legal and practical issues involved in public access from a Constitutional perspective. It addresses the differences between traditional public fora, designated public fora, and nonpublic fora, then concludes that public educational facilities are not traditional public fora and that officials should not create a designated public forum that is open to all persons for all purposes. It asserts that institutional officials need to decide whether limited public fora should be made available in certain facilities, or whether only nonpublic fora should be maintained throughout the system by exercising significant control over access. 6p.

Develops a model for a cooperative, joint-use educational center to meet the future needs of California. Based on case studies of two such existing educational centers in Denver, Colorado and Yuma, Arizona, and on a case study of a developing center in Tracy, California, seven key elements critical to the successful design and implementation of such educational centers were identified. These seven elements are: 1) partners; 2) people; 3) planning; 4) politics; 5) property; 6) “pence” (funding); and 7) policies/procedures. 183p.

This paper discusses New Jersey's unprecedented $12.3 billion school construction and reconstruction project, launched in 2000, as an opportunity to reconstruct the state's communities, enhancing quality of life and reducing sprawl. It aims to stimulate a statewide conversation about the opportunity to integrate the design of the next generation of public school facilities with the state's blueprint for smart growth--the "State Development and Redevelopment Plan," or the State Plan. The paper discusses the historical background, schools as centers of community for cities and towns, state agencies' roles, and the relevance of national design policy. It then provides design guidelines for creating schools that serve as centers of New Jersey communities: (1) enhance teaching and learning and accommodate the needs of all learners; (2) serve as centers of community; (3) result from a planning/design process involving all stakeholders; (4) provide for health, safety, and security; (5) make effective use of all available resources; and (6) allow for flexibility and adaptability to changing needs. The paper also includes sections discussing the example of Paterson, New Jersey, and key components of sustainable school design. (Contains a list of resources.) 27p.

This paper is in two parts. The first provides background on New Jersey’s $12 billion school construction program, and the Office of State Planning’s (OSP) campaign to encourage creative thinking about the new schools and how they might fit into the State’s communities. The second part considers six broadly endorsed design guidelines for community-centered schools, in terms of projects already underway in new Jersey as well as a framework for investigating new issues and problems that might arise. 5p.

This is a comprehensive review of literature that specifically addresses what makes an effective, successful after-school collaboration between community-based organizations and schools. 50p.

This manual describes what community schools are; the challenges they face; and the new realities for schools, families, and communities that form the context for community schools. Attention is given to the Children's Aid Society (CAS) and how it has created community schools in New York State. School curriculum and structure, integration of health, mental, and other services, and early childhood programs are covered. Results to date of the CAS schools are presented, including improved academic performance, higher attendance rates, greater parental involvement, and safer schools. The team-building and sustaining processes are also described where community agencies are brought in as partners in education. Other important points covered are the planning and financing of the school. Finally, nine concrete initial steps are presented that can form the basis of an action plan. This manual concludes with a list of reading resources and Web sites. 122p.

Suggests low-cost ways to create effective and pleasing out-of-school child care facilities. Four attributes of the relationship of program to space are considered, accompanied by five steps toward identifying and solving problem areas. Case studies of three facilities are presented in a "before and after" format. 9p.

This guide offers general design proposal guidance for sports and arts spaces in England's primary schools, where these types of spaces can be used by both school and community members. It presents case studies and detailed specifications for the multipurpose main hall. It also discusses ways to deal with dual use design challenges in order to promote higher design quality and allow for innovation. Practical everyday design considerations also addressed include security, accessibility for disabled persons, health and safety, and environmental issues. 21p.

This North Carolina report describes new and innovative approaches to school facilities as they relate to their communities by exploring the trends towards smaller schools, walkable schools, sustainability and green building practices, recycling older small community schools, and joint use arrangements. The pros and cons of small schools are examined. The report finds solutions by applying strategies in smart growth planning. Concluding sections contain links and references where stakeholders can obtain in-depth material on these subjects. (Contains 60 references.) 57p.

This booklet contains profiles of 26 community-school models. Although communities and states approach the development of community schools in various ways, all the models presented here reflect the shared vision of the Coalition for Community Schools, that is, a set of partnerships to establish a place where services, support, and opportunity lead to improved student learning, stronger families, and healthier communities. Community schools operate in a public-school building and are open to students, families, and community before, during, and after school every day of the year. The models illustrate the vision of a community school, along with what happens at a community school, and demonstrate the key principles of a community school. Elements of a community school include using public schools as a hub to bring together many partners, strong partnerships, shared accountability, high expectations, diversity, and the use of a community's strength. Each of the school models provides contact information, a description of the program and its goals, some distinguishing characteristics of the model, how the school is governed, and other information. Those communities that are represented include New York City; Boston; Birmingham; Denver; San Francisco; Kansas City; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle.

Asserting that as Georgia moves into the 21st century, its public education sector must examine alternative means of utilizing and sharing buildings and facilities, this paper explores the alternatives to relying on taxes alone to meet the ever-increasing needs for additional and improved school buildings, as well as ways to reduce the need for more schools and classrooms. The discussion focuses on three major topics: privatization, more effective facility utilization and sharing, and technology. 32p.

Describes the 21st Century Community Learning Center program, authorized under Title X, Part I, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, to help families and communities keep their children safe and smart. The 21st Century Community Learning Centers, supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Education, enable school districts to fund public schools as community education centers keeping children safe in the after-school hours. They also provide students with access to homework centers and tutors and to cultural enrichment, recreational, and nutritional opportunities. In addition, life-long learning activities are available for community members in a local school setting.

This strategy brief presents general principles and strategies for financing facility improvements and highlights five examples of innovative strategies, including: (1) accessing school construction dollars; (2) using grants and donations; (3) accessing low-cost debt; (4) engaging partners to jointly develop facility improvement projects; and (5) generating revenue through the tax and building codes. These strategies illustrate the importance of thinking broadly and creatively about the range of resources available in the community, combining financing strategies appropriate to project objectives, engaging a variety of public and private sector partners, leveraging funds from non-traditional sources, and persevering through long and intensive planning and implementation processes. 20p.

The purpose of this study was to describe strategic practices (defined as priority-based actions) used in the development of joint-use agreements for educational facilities between California public school districts and community entities, as well as both impeding and supportive elements. A cross-case analysis of the efforts and experiences of seven California school facility practitioners was crafted. The study identified major findings as metathemes that were operationally described. Six metathemes of strategic practices were identified relative to aspects of cooperation, perseverance, collaboration, entrepreneurialism, synergy, and resourcefulness. Six metathemes described barriers to joint-use relative to aspects of territorialism, use/access conflicts, bureaucracy, limited finances, collaboration, and top-level support. Four metathemes described supportive elements to joint-use, including institutionalized belief, productive relationships, strong reputations, and support from top-level leadership. An annotated compendium of successful joint-use projects in included, as well as a list of network resources utilized by the researcher. [Online access to excerpt from this dissertation available at http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/joint-use.pdf] 418p.

This brochure explains the benefits and challenges of community learning centers, lists some examples of specific school-community alliances, offers suggestions for promoting school-community partnerships, and provides sources for more information. School- community alliances highlighted involve public schools teaming with public libraries, social service agencies, recreation departments, universities, and businesses. (Contains 10 references.) 5p.

This paper was prepared as an outgrowth of a Getty Center symposium sponsored by New Schools Better Neighborhoods (NSBN) and its partner organizations in May 1999. The subject of joint use, generically meaning the development of K-12 education facilities in combination with other facilities such as parks or libraries, was broached at the Getty Symposium as one of several means of accelerating and enhancing new school construction. Accordingly, a working group was formed under the guidance of NSBN with the charge to research, evaluate, and formulate recommendations regarding joint use. This is the first in a series of products prepared by the Joint Use Working Group. The paper is an overview of the subject and a point of departure for further study. It discusses the benefits of joint use, such as additional student housing, cost savings, and community enrichment programs and services, as well as its constraints, such as conflicting or non-aligned goals of the partners, operations and maintenance issues, and regulatory constraints. Also explored are themes of joint use, such as the school district as community developer, leveraging community goals, and adaptive re-use of existing structures. 7p.

Demonstrates simple but effective solutions to the common problems many out-of-school time programs face regarding facilities and other space-related issues. The guide also highlights the importance of integrating facilities and programs in a coordinated effort, and it teaches school-age care providers how to approach facilities problems and implement realistic solutions within a budget. Chapters address how to think about the relationship between facilities programs; how to makeover classrooms; and how to consider all other aspects of space, including space planning and layout, color, traffic, noise, light, and furniture. The final section includes a resource list and selected bibliography. 26p.

Fourche Valley School District in central Arkansas has a single K-12 school serving 157 students. The school is thriving in the face of adversity and serves as the true center of the community in the absence of any local governing bodies or civic organizations. Interviews and focus groups revealed various signs of school success and progress: a positive school climate characterized by friendliness and caring; a beautifully maintained school facility; access to technology and distance education partnerships with other small districts; recent improvements in curriculum and instruction and an emphasis on relevance in curriculum; uncommon professional development strategies; extensive engagement of community adults in school activities; strong leadership by the superintendent, principal, and school board president; a long-term partnership with Arkansas Tech University; and addition of new talented teachers following state-mandated pay raises. 26p.

This report examines the underutilization of K-12 school facilities and the advantages and disadvantages in expanding K- 12 school facilities beyond a 7-hour weekday. It concludes that the benefits from extending facility hours for more teaching, increased extracurricular activities, and community use appear to far outweigh the more traditional limitations on the use of school facilities. A list of ways school facilities can be used by the surrounding community is provided followed by resources for information on schools that have already expanded the traditional use of their facilities. 6p.

This video, and the accompanying implementation guide, provides information on how to improve existing space or build a new facility, suggestions for designing space to meet the safety, comfort, and creative needs of all children and staff, and ideas for designing indoor and outdoor spaces to improve program quality. 53p.

This report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights assembles information about religious discrimination in the Nation's public schools. The commission concentrated its review on: (1) assessing school districts' compliance with the Equal Access Act, and the Supreme Court decisions governing equal access to school facilities by religious groups; (2) determining whether schools are maintaining the delicate balance between the legally mandated separation of church and state while complying with equal access laws; (3) determining whether all religious groups are being accorded protection under existing law; and (4) identifying specific religious practices and beliefs that may be subject to discrimination or denial of equal protection. The transcripts that follow the summary embody an ample supply of facts, concerns, and recommendations about an important area of civil-rights law presented by knowledgeable witnesses.

In a speech delivered at the American Institute of Architects national office in Washington, D.C., U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley provides his viewpoints on maintaining strong public support for public education by reaching out to every part of the community. The Secretary urges Congress to act on school modernization. He discusses the emerging focus of architecture that now creates schools as community learning centers and the benefits of bringing the entire community into the process of school design. The Secretary argues for building smaller schools to help foster educational and operational efficiencies and presents a few ideas for accomplishing this goal. He further argues that smaller schools can help parents become more involved in their schools, can effect residential growth patterns and impact suburban sprawl, and can provide the catalyst for bringing a community together in reviving a neighborhood. Further argued is the concept of building new schools that are multi-purpose in nature in order to bring the school closer to a community. Finally, the Secretary stresses the importance of linking schools to other learning centers such as museums, businesses, and environmental centers in order to enhance the learning experience. 9p.

This paper addresses the growing population trends in California; the need to counteract the current model of community sprawl by designing smarter schools and community growth strategies; and the changes in planning, policies, and practices needed to achieve these goals. Recommended strategies described support the following actions: more participatory and community-based planning; innovative educational facilities that promote the concept of learning communities and schools as centers of community; the joint use of all public facilities; the planning of urban and suburban projects based on the principles of smart growth; the assessment of all public expenditures based on the concept of integrated resource development; and the development of an ongoing vehicle for communications and decision-making between all agencies, institutions and organizations involved in education reform and smart growth issues. Six case studies are highlighted that illustrate some of the goals outlined for smarter schools and smarter growth strategies. 37p.

This expands upon the following principals: 1)enhance teaching and learning and accommodate the needs of all learners; 2)serve as Center of the Community; 3)develop a planning and design process that involves all stakeholders; 4)provide for health, safety, and security; 5)make effect use of all available resources; 6)allow for flexibility and adaptability to changing needs.

Richard W. Riley, Secretary of Education, provides his remarks concerning today's big-city schools and the new hopeful realism that is being created through building more community partnerships to turn low-performing schools around. The Secretary discusses the governments role in school construction and the need to increase after-school programs and community-school relationships. Concluding comments address government efforts in funding school improvement initiatives; undertaking community-wide approaches to preventing violence, decreasing drug use, and giving students healthier options about how to live their lives; and decreasing drop-out rates.

This British publication offers guidance to help schools open up the use of their premises and facilities and to enhance their links with the local community. It highlights the benefits of partnership and offers real examples of the type of activity which is already undertaken in many schools and how it is organised and funded. Also covered are the legal aspects of community use of school property arrangements such as ownership of the premises and the agreements, giving control to others, the roles of local education authorities and governor's duties, and operating childcare in schools. Final sections address practical aspects of community use of school property including health and safety, security, fire safety, public entertainment and other licenses, and maintenance. Appendices highlight ownership aspects of school premises, provide an example of a transfer of control agreement, and present a list of useful contacts. 52p.

Public schools are not required to permit religious groups to use their facilities during non-school hours. However, once public school facilities have been opened to use by community groups during non-school hours, local religious groups may not be denied access to those same facilities.

Based on the trials and triumphs of an award-winning program, this guide contains everything needed to create a full-service school - from planning processes to funding strategies to service delivery. It shows schools and community agencies how to develop workable joint agreements that accommodate a variety of programs, confidentiality issues, and service delivery approaches. Valuable resource materials include needs assessment forms, interagency agreements, program evaluation tools, facilities criteria, funding sources, and family service coordination plans. Templates of survey forms, sample agreements, and other program tools are also available on disk. 320p.

Looks at initiatives that are transforming schools into social, educational, and recreational anchors of their communities. In steadily increasing numbers, children and youth across the country--along with their familiies and neighbors--are visiting schools before and after the bell rings,on weekends, and during the summer for such activities as tutoring, recreation, primary health-care services, and job training.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries have been attempting to facilitate the provision of a range of community services on school sites, including adult education and other social and welfare services. This report describes development of integrated service provision, i.e., the integrating on one site of multiple services that are usually provided separately, focusing on the implications for local government authorities, planners, and architects who are designing school sites that must meet the new requirements. Several case studies are presented from other countries that demonstrate the necessity of optimizing the use of buildings and facilities and making schools better at promoting service synergies with local communities and with other services.

The community/school relationship is considered vital in helping rural school districts adapt to changing needs through renovation and/or expansion of its school facilities. How these needs are met involves choices that include consolidation with another district, new school construction, or renovation and adding on to an existing school. This paper argues that the addition/renovation choice can often be a successful one in meeting the changing needs of a school or district, and presents the "integrated sequence" method for analyzing an existing building's reusable resources in meeting those needs. It presents an overview on how the rural school is the center of community life and the consequences of consolidating school districts followed by a discussion of the issues surrounding an integrated sequence of development, such as site size, the planning process, building valuation, creation of a flexible design, issues involving construction, and environmental concerns. Two case histories of school districts using this approach are presented. (Contains 13 references). 22p.

This helps communities and school districts determine whether a combined school and public library will provide the most efficient library service for all community residents. Topics covered are: planning issues; mission statements; the legal framework for combined school-public libraries in the state of Wisconsin; and a list of key issues to be considered when examining the feasibility of establishing such a library. A feasibility checklist is also included and covers planning, governance, administration and funding, access to information and materials, the physical facility, technology, and attitudinal factors. Also included are: descriptions of existing combined school and public libraries in Wisconsin; examples of alternative methods for improving library services; a selected bibliography; statutory references; and sample master agreement. 38p.

This offers practical and comprehensive guidance for establishing school-based and school-linked academic, health, and human services as part of a holistic way to facilitate children's learning through family advocacy. The first of six chapters helps the reader understand how full-service schools work; including what they are, why they are needed, how they work, and other aspects. Chapter 2 outlines the planning and decision-making necessary. Chapters 3 and 4 discuss strategies for assessing community needs and identifying funding approaches and sources, while the last two chapters address the writing of funding proposals and evaluation plans and the means of sharing information, publicity, and training. Nearly 100 pages of resources needed to create a full-service school follow. 311p.

School improvement in rural places cannot succeed without attention to the rural context of learning. Most especially, smaller schools need to be preserved and sustained in rural areas, particularly impoverished communities, for the sake of student achievement and personal development. This school improvement tool suggests the character of a "good rural community school" and briefly considers the relationships among learning, community, and facility construction in rural areas. A 20-point "Rural Community Schools' Facility Checklist" is included that reflects connections to community, curriculum, and issues related to quality of life in rural places. 9p.

Details nineteen elements key to the creation of successful community learning centers, including site selection, building design, organizational structure, curriculum, staffing, techology integration, and partnerships. Includes 10 references. 19p.

This report examines how the traditional roles and relationships between a school system as owner, and the architect, as designer, are substantially altered when educational facilities share their spaces for non-school use. It indicates that shared use often brings school systems into conflict with their new partners over design criteria, building access and control, and scheduling. These additional funding sources and user groups may have their own defined cultures, which through a period of trial and error, must adjust to the two established cultures of the architect and the school system, and vice versa. Both the school system and the architect, their historical roles substantially changed with the introduction of new stakeholders, now must adjust to the additional owners and using groups whose criteria sometimes are at odds with the established school system. The extent of these conflicting cultures is described. 20p.

This paper reviews the literature on the noneducational impacts of rural schools on their communities and provides an annotated bibliography of sources. Taken as a whole, the literature suggests that the school-community relationship is multifaceted. Community schools have positive economic impacts related to local employment, retail sales, and infrastructure; have positive social impacts related to social integration and collective community identity; function as an arena for local politics; provide a resource for community development through student projects and school-to-work programs; and offer a delivery point for health and social services, improving access to health care and other services. The annotated bibliography has two sections containing 43 research papers and 68 advocacy and position papers. Entries were published 1938-98 (primarily in the 1980s and 1990s) and include journal articles, federal documents, conference papers, monographs, books, book chapters, research bulletins, and master's theses. 48p.

This document provides information about the creation and implementation of 12 community learning centers at selected high schools within the Lane Community College (Oregon) district. Community learning centers are founded on the belief that high schools are the center of education in communities and that community colleges should take learner-centered curricula directly to the communities they serve. Through distance learning that employs a combination of synchronous telecourses, modem learning, and computer online facilities, learners aged 16 to retirement age can have access to higher education and continuing education opportunities during day, evening, and weekend hours. The facilities act as one-stop centers where high school students or community residents may register and pay for classes, attend telecourses, be tested, receive academic or financial aid counseling, or participate in any other function found at a traditional community college campuses. 21p.

Keeping schools open longer--before and after school, and during the summer--can turn schools into "Community Learning Centers." By keeping school doors open during nontraditional school hours, the school provides students, parents, and the community with access to valuable educational resources. This outlines the steps needed to successfully convert a school into a community learning center and lists resources for further information and assistance. This provides concrete suggestions for estimating typical costs, developing a community-learning-center budget, building consensus and partnerships, conducting a community assessment of needs and resources, designing an effective program, considering logistical issues, obtaining qualified staff, and evaluating a program's accomplishments.

This report addresses the expanding role that schools play in a child's everyday life, and it presents three creative initiatives in Seattle designed to reconnect schools with their surrounding communities and help schools meet their growing role as an extended family. The three elementary school case studies, which each address a different aspect of community life, offer insights and approaches that other communities can use to give children a more vibrant daily connection with their communities. These initiatives illustrate the value of parents, grandparents, and others in reconnecting school environments with their communities and the importance of the childrens' participation in the process. 16p.

Educational reform is revitalizing the ways in which the schools relate to the community. This book develops a framework for new school and community relations in response to the current reforms' emphasis on cooperation and collaboration. The book presents a systems approach to defining global, school, and community relations. Changing school spaces and facilities are discussed in chapter 10. 317p.

School buildings are expensive to construct and to maintain, yet many are used for only a few hours each day. There is also a growing demand for facilities for lifelong learning, leisure, and other community activities, while financial pressures on national and local authorities continue to grow. In 1995, the OECD Programme on Educational Building (PEB) and the French authorities organized a seminar in Lyon, seeking to identify ways to broaden the use of educational facilities, both outside and during school hours. This report discusses architectural design, responsibility and liability, management of financial and human resources, and compatibility with a school's goals. It summarizes the background of and issues in the underutilization of school buildings, examines a range of actual and possible uses for school buildings, and identifies the keys to successful implementation. 37p.

Four papers are presented on learning environments, accommodating special needs students, and educational facility design and construction trends towards integration and inclusion. The first paper, "All for One: Inclusion in the Learning Environment", addresses the change from the past tendency of educational facility design and construction to exclude special needs students to more inclusive and community-friendly facilities. The second paper, "Common Ground", explores educational facility design that is now responding to the evolving curriculum of interdisciplinary, hands-on, and integrated learning. The third paper, "E Pluribus Unum: The New American Community School", explores the emerging trend towards integration and inclusion in educational facility design. The fourth paper, "The Lincoln Plan", examines the designing of educational facilities as thematic learning centers, each with an integrated curriculum covering all of the necessary core content and its own interdisciplinary team for implementation. 27p.

Today's education facilities are having to accommodate more than just traditional students and programs--schools often must provide access for night and weekend use, as well as serve as centers for cultural and recreational activities. Ways in which schools are including spaces for technologically advanced media centers, auditoriums that can accommodate professional performances, expansive recreation centers, and elaborate and functional common areas and multipurpose rooms are described here. The text opens with a discussion of some of the challenges and opportunities inherent in the community use of school buildings and includes numerous examples of cooperative programs. The planning process is detailed next, along with zoning requirements and the numerous facets surrounding design details. Some of the specific purposes of schools, such as celebrating the arts and recreational facilities, are discussed at length. Descriptions of general purposes follow this section, especially the idea that the school is the heart of the community and should appeal to a broad range of age groups. 108p.

This paper reports on recommendations resulting from a 1994 conference conducted by the Delaware Rural Assistance Council on "Designing Rural Schools as Community Learning and Service Centers." Specifically, the purpose of the conference was to develop information, insights, and plans that would help the staffs of educational, health, and social service agencies make decisions leading to better coordination of rural community services. Participants included administrators, teachers, counselors, nurses, support staff, and school board members from rural school districts in Delaware and representatives of community health and social services agencies. A number of key concepts and recommendations were generated, dealing with identifying stakeholders involved in the process of designing rural schools as community learning and service centers; identifying the essential needs of children, youth, and families; developing initial action plans; and exploring ways in which existing county interagency councils can work more closely with schools. Twenty-five recommendations directed toward the Delaware RAC, school districts, and community service agencies cover advocacy, networking, and planning strategies for integrating services in rural school districts. 7p.

In 1994, a 2-day symposium was conducted on a broadened, more inclusive mission for rural schools--rural schools functioning as community learning and service centers. The symposium aimed to enhance the knowledge base related to five key dimensions that must be planned, implemented, and evaluated when designing rural schools in this fashion: community development; economic development; partnerships among family, school and community; school-to-work transition; and integrating education, health, and social services. 43p.