Provides local government managers with an understanding of the connections between school facility planning and local government management issues, with particular attention to avoiding the creation of large schools remotely sited from the community they serve. It offers multiple strategies for local governments and schools to bring their respective planning efforts together to take a more community-oriented approach to schools and reach multiple community goals--educational, environmental, economic, social, and fiscal. Eight case studies illustrate how communities across the U.S. have already succeeded in collaborating to create more community-oriented schools. Includes 95 references and an extensive list of additional online resources. 40p.

Examines state policies on school siting, school construction financing, and Safe Routes to School programs focusing on how policies can benefit communities, improve children's health, and reduce the need for infrastructure expansion. Strategies that states are using include reducing or eliminating minimum acreage requirements for schools, revising school funding formulas to promote renovation or expansion of existing sites. requiring that schools be located in areas designated for growth that already have sufficient existing infrastructure to support school facilities; and creating, funding, promoting, and implementing Safe Routes to School Programs. 9p.

Discusses how various institutions of higher education across the United States have adopted smart growth strategies to help ensure that new growth and development meet the institutions' mission and serve the community in which they live. The publication begins with an overview of smart growth strategies and then makes a four-part argument for adopting such strategies: 1) Creating thriving, vibrant places helps to attract and keep the best students, faculty, and staff. 2) Smart growth development patterns are a more efficient use of scarce resources and are better investments. 3) Colleges and universities and the surrounding communities can work together across the traditional boundary of the campus to solve challenges in mutually beneficial ways. 4) Better development patterns allow colleges and universities to improve their environmental performance. 48p.

This guidebook illustrates how communities can transform themselves by using smart growth techniques and policies that promote quality development, preservation of environmental resources, sustainable design, and superior communities in which people work, live, and play. The publication features 40 places around the country, from cities to suburbs to small towns to rural communities, where good development has improved residents' quality of life. 32p.

This issue of the publication "Focus on Critical Issues" provides information to help encourage cycling to school. This includes planning and siting considerations for neighborhood schools, with examples of community and trail-linked campuses, parking lot size reductions, and preservation of historic schools. A list of resources is also included. 12p.

Describes the conversion of Phoenix's vacant 1950's-era Maryvale Mall into an elementary and middle school. The project yielded a construction cost of $65 per square foot, and the new schools, along with the community services they housed, helped spur an urban renewal of the depressed Maryvale neighborhood 6p.

The City Heights Redevelopment Project Area comprises various community planning areas focusing on education and beautification of the community. The City Heights Urban Village has recreated the core of the City Heights community, establishing a pedestrian-friendly town square with important City facilities and centers of learning. The project has been a partnership of the City of San Diego, City's Redevelopment Agency, San Diego Foundation, CityLink Investment Corp., and Price Charities. Already completed are a library, performance area, recreation center, playing fields, police substation, public swimming pool, municipal gymnasium, elementary school, a retail center, and an adult learning center.

Explores the intersections among public schools, housing, and neighborhood revitalization in the Washington, DC, metropolitan region. The report demonstrates the interdependent relationship between public school systems and local housing markets, and the imperative for coordinated investments that expand the supply of affordable housing while improving the quality of public education. Includes 33 references 72p.

Provides strategies for locating schools in ways that benefit the whole community, concentrating on taking advantage of existing resources, creating schools that are easily and safely accessible, and creating community anchors. Four school siting principles are supported by case studies, along with suggested steps for creating a coordinated school siting process, and a list of frequently asked questions. Includes 22 references. 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.

Provides information on school location and construction issues to consider to make schools pedestrian-friendly. The guidelines group these factors into three broad areas: 1) Neighborhood guidelines: Schools should ideally be located in existing neighborhoods where walking is already an option. 2) School site design guidelines: The site layout should encourage walking to school. 3) School building design guidelines. The building itself should be constructed such that students, parents, and teachers are encouraged to walk. These guidelines are derived from observations of successful neighborhoods and published reports dealing with pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods and school siting issues, which are listed as additional resources in the report. Also included are diagrams and photographs to show real-world comparisons and examples, and a checklist and matrix to evaluate walkability. 32p.

Explains the importance of public schools to realtors and gives examples of efforts by individual realtors and realtor associations around the country to improve the quality of public school education, along with a quiz for realtors to test their knowledge of basic education facts and figures. Subsequent coverage of topics that link schools to smart growth is followed by articles explaining directions in education policy and practice that may impact real estate. A glossary of education terms and the National Association of Realtors official policy position on public education are included. 125p.

This PowerPoint presentation looks at how K-12 districts can use GIS mapping to help make informed decisions when master planning. Discusses such GIS mapping applications as student enrollment mapping, demographic analysis, spatial analysis of student population, redistricting/boundary adjustments, build-out scenarios/development potential analysis, and overlay of multiple data to determine trends and relationships. Includes case studies. 57 slides

Case studies of organizations that establish strong connections between communities and schools using many different entry points. Includes a profile of New School Better Neighborhoods, a nonprofit intermediary organization in Los Angeles that works to design schools that serve as centers of communities. The organization brings together community stakeholders to plan multi-use development that combines residential, recreational, and educational use of scarce land in densely populated urban areas.

Provides guidance in choosing effective "smart growth" locations for school facilities. Addresses new schools, existing schools, and the subject of adaptive reuse of existing facilities for school learning environments. Addresses the connection between smart growth principles and community-centered schools, factors to consider when planning community-centered schools, local and state policies that support smart growth and community-centered schools, and provides ten case studies that illustrate the various concepts presented. 52p.

In a time when states are challenged with shrinking revenue bases and increases in mandatory spending, thoughtfully channeling development expenditures through careful planning, design, and coordination can benefit government, businesses, and local communities. A fix-it-first strategy allows states to plan for growth and development by leveraging their limited resources and maximizing past investments and previously built assets. Policies that define the placement and character of school construction are becoming an important consideration in states' infrastructure investment decisions. 10p

Addresses low-density and single-use zoning, unconnected streets designed exclusively for vehicles, and lack of sidewalks as contributors to the inability to walk to school. Studies citing city planning and school siting remedies are reviewed, as are examples of experiences from Florida, Maine, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Washington. Includes 20 references. 20p.

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.

Provides guidance on addressing the root causes of unbalanced regional growth and suggests ways for finding common ground between developers and smart growth advocates. Information on the neighborhood-level impacts of regional growth, advice on influencing the planning and development process, sources for facts and figures to support smart growth, and coalition-building advice are included. 134p.

This study examines the relationship between mode of travel to school and the full range of factors that might affect mode choice. The finding show that students with shorter walk or bike times to school proved significantly more likely to walk or bike. Students traveling through areas with sidewalks on main roads were also more likely to walk. This argues for neighborhood schools serving nearby residential areas. 9p.

This provides a detailed review of how school construction decisions — whether to renovate existing buildings or build new, greenfield facilities — are made in Michigan and their effect on development patterns. The report aims to help school officials, community leaders, homeowners, and parents evaluate the full cost of new school construction or renovation. It recommends changes in state policy that, if implemented, will capture the economic and cultural benefits of renovating older schools or building new ones in town. 20p.

This describes the results of efforts in four neighborhoods in Baltimore, St. Louis, and Atlanta to connect community-based revitalization initiatives with school reform programs in the same neighborhoods. Chapters include: 1) Building and Learning Go Seperate Ways; 2) The School-Community Alliance in Practice; 3) The Developer as Educator; 4) Housing and Economic Development. 39p.

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 volume shows that a wide variety of smart growth tools, policies, and approaches are available to create more livable communities. It provides ten policy options to achieve each of the ten Smart Growth Principles. These policies are supported with ''Practice Tips'' which offer additional resources or brief case studies of communities that have applied the approach to achieve smart growth. Includes an appendix listing funding resources for smart growth projects. 122p.

This study examines the relationship between school locations, the built environment around schools, how students get to school, and the impact on air emissions of those travel choices. It provides information about the effect of school location on student transportation and shows that school siting and design can affect choices of walking, biking or driving. In turn, these travel choices can affect traffic congestion, air pollution, and school transportation budgets. The trend toward construction of big schools on large, remote sites is sometimes dictated by state and local regulations. These regulations often overlook the value of renovating existing schools or creating smaller, neighborhood-based schools. 33p.

This PowerPoint 'Smart Growth Slide Show' by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Smart Growth America provides information on the characteristics and benefits of what are termed Smart Growth Schools. These are small school facilities within existing neighborhoods that support use by the community, enable students to walk or bike to school, and utilize existing resources, including the existing school building. The slide show and guide were funded by the Environmental Protection Agency.

This fact sheet lists the benefits of using smart growth principles for school facilities. Smart Growth Schools inspire community involvement, improve academic achievement, save money, improve student health and environmental quality. Barriers and solutions to Smart Growth Schools are also included in this fact sheet. 4p.

This report outlines trends in school construction in North Carolina, identifies key factors affecting the location and design of schools, and suggests solutions for overcoming obstacles to building and maintaining walkable, neighborhood-scale schools. Factors influencing location and design include suburbanization, economics, local land use regulations, and the policies of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction which encourages communities to "super-size" new schools. 20p.

Examines the numerous advantages that can be gained from preserving older neighborhood schools. Debunks the notion that well-renovated historic schools cannot meet modern standards. Recounts the experiences of three successful school renovation projects in Spokane, Washington; San Antonio, Texas; and Boise, Idaho. Concludes with several briefer examples illustrating how communities have found creative solutions to common problems encountered during historic renovation. Fifteen color photographs convey the value of these projects from an architectural and aesthetic perspective. 16p.

Describes problems that arise when local governments and school boards do not cooperate on the planning of developments and school sites, and the benefits to quality growth that are realized when they do. Guidelines for interagency cooperation and implementation are enumerated, with lessons learned, best practices, case studies, and model agreements also provided. Includes 34 references and other resources. 51p.

This book looks at planning from a “lessons learned” perspective, using examples and narrative to relate the Cuningham Group's process and philosophy while demonstrating how to apply educational research in real world settings. The second edition includes updated graphics, additional case studies, and a new chapter that examines a sustainable approach to school design. Following an introduction, the discussion is broken down into the following chapters: (1) “Schools That Fit;” (2) “Toward Better Schools;” (3) “Schools That Fit Communities;” (4) “Schools That Fit Education Leaders;” (5) “Schools That Fit Teachers;" (6) “Schools That Fit Learners;" (7) “Schools That Fit Children;” and (8) “Schools That Fit The World.” The book is intended to be a resource for communities, schools, and districts as they explore how education impacts the learning environment. 72p.

This report examines public policy effects on historic neighborhood school expansion, renovation, and replacement needs. It addresses four basic questions: (1) Are public policies inadvertently sabotaging the very type of community-centered school that many parents and educators are calling for today? (2) Do some policies and practices promote mega-school sprawl at the expense of older neighborhoods? (3) Why can't kids walk to school anymore? and (4) How have some school districts overcome policy and other barriers to the retention and modernization of old historic schools? Included are examples of how some communities are addressing these policies, including several school renovation successes. Concluding sections provide recommendations for policy reforms to buttress neighborhood conservation and smart growth efforts that can help to retain and improve good schools that have served established neighborhoods for generations. 52p.

With the promise of broader curriculum and huge tax savings, West Virginia has closed more than 300 schools, one in every five, since 1990. In 2002, the Charleston Gazette investigated the outcomes of the state’s consolidation efforts in the series, “Closing Costs.” Some of the findings include: 1)The state has spent more than $1 billion on school consolidation; 2)the school closings didn’t save taxpayers money; 3) West Virginia counties statewide spend a higher percentage of their budgets on maintenance and utilities now than they did five years ago, despite consolidation; 4) the number of local administrators has increased by 16% in the last 10 years despite a 13% decrease in student enrollment and closing of over 300 schools; 5) the number of state-level administrators increased and their salaries nearly doubled between 1990 and 2002; and 6) West Virginia spends more of its education dollar on transportation than any other state; rising transportation costs have forced counties to slash funding from classrooms, offices, and cafeterias. 3p.

The paper describes how the trend toward building new schools on large sites far from existing development centers, called “school sprawl” or “school giantism,” can have far-reaching impacts on school children,school districts and the larger community. Educators and parents express concern that large schools reduce educational outcomes, particularly for at-risk youth. Schools that are more distant can diminish student participation in extra-curricular activities, parental involvement and taxpayer support. Students are walking and cycling to school less, which contributes to alarming rates of childhood obesity. Rather than build shopping mall schools at the edge of town, smart growth advocates encourage the continued use of existing schools and the construction of new schools on infill sites within existing neighborhoods. Smart growth advocates' interest in neighborhood schools dovetails with education reformers' interest in small schools, presenting an important opportunity for collaboration. 12p.

This paper describes how the trend toward building new schools on large sites far from existing development centers, called "school sprawl" or "school giantism," can have far-reaching impacts on school children, school districts, and the larger community.Educators and parents express concern that large schools reduce educational outcomes, particularly for at-risk youth.Schools that are more distant can diminish student participation in extracurricular activities, parental involvement, and taxpayer support. Students are walking and cycling to school less,which contributes to alarming rates of childhood obesity. Many suggest that the growing physical disconnect between schools and community helps create a level of student anonymity and social alienation that sets the stage for tragic events like Columbine. Smart growth groups, which traditionally have not weighed in on educational matters, are now questioning the same trend. Rather than build shopping mall schools at the edge of town, smart growth advocates encourage the continued use of existing schools and the construction of new schools on infill sites within existing neighborhoods.Smart growth advocates' interest in neighborhood schools dovetails with education reformers' interest in small schools, presenting an important opportunity for collaboration. Scattered efforts are underway across the country addressing the shared interests of educators and smart growth advocates. (Author abstract) 13p.

This publication summarizes research on the educational and social benefits of small schools and the negative effects of large schools on students, teachers, and members of the community, as well as the "diseconomies of scale" inherent in large schools. It asserts that research shows that measuring the cost of education by graduates rather than by all students who go through the system suggests that small schools are a wise investment. Using data drawn from 489 schools submitted to design competitions in 1990-2001, the publication concludes that small schools can be built cost effectively and that many districts are doing so. 31p.

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.

The case studies in this booklet highlight how five communities, in big cities and small towns, overcame the obstacles inherent in creating good new schools in existing neighborhoods. There is mounting evidence that small schools provide a better quality education than large ones. Among the obstacles faced in establishing new schools in old areas are: (1) school building standards, codes, and regulations; (2) difficulty in acquiring land; (3) districts have lost the skill to build schools; and (4) building “greenfield” schools is more familiar. The Oyster School in Washington, D.C., is an example of a school modernized through parent efforts when the school system was not able to find the funds for improvement of the facility. Sharing the existing space with an apartment building, at the cost of some space, resulted in a renovated school. In Pomona, California, a school was built at the site of a mall and vacant supermarket. A magnet-type school was built in Dallas, Texas, on the last piece of undeveloped land near a multifamily apartment complex. Two public academies were established in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, to attract children whose parents work in town and ensure that both the academies were filled to capacity. Rebuilding on the site of an old school was the solution for Manitowoc, Wisconsin, as it worked to meet the needs of a neighborhood. Some other examples of noteworthy approaches to new schools for old communities are briefly outlined. 20p.

This book provides an in-depth look at the underlying principles of smart growth, explains how developers and planners have applied them, and how the public and private sectors can collaborate to make smart growth effective. Topics include economically viable compact mixed-use development, conserving open space, expanding mobility options, creating livable communities, smart growth in suburban greenfields and infill areas, and the role of the players involved in putting smart growth to work. 175p.

This is a summary of a symposium on smart growth and schools co-hosted by Smart Growth America, the 21st Century School Fund, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Rural Schools and Community Trust, and the National Center for Bicycling and Walking. The symposium brought together advocates for schools and advocates for smart growth to discuss the opportunities for collaboration, and the possibility of developing a common agenda. The symposium examined trends in school facilities, the causes of those trends, and what communities around the country are doing to respond to the trends.

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 presents summary conclusions reached by discussion panels that participated in the Committee on Architecture for Education's conference entitled, "Sustainable Schools, Sustainable Communities" (San Diego, March 22-24, 2001). The conference explored the symbiotic relationship between schools and communities and the ways that schools and communities sustain one another. Panel titles were: "City Heights Urban Village;" "High Tech High;" "Educational Center;" "Symbols, Forms, Materials, and Regional Aesthetics: The Sustainability of Culture and the Search for Authenticity;" "Ecology, Landscape Design, and Conservation: Working with Building Systems to Generate Meaningful Spaces for Learning;" "Campus Planning and Community Design: The Impact on Our Quality of Life;" and "The Next Generation: Satellite Learning Centers, Global Teleconferencing Labs, and Public-Private Partnerships." 10p.

Presents concepts for using public school capital projects as tools for revitalizing a post-idustrial American City. It applies the school design and planning strategy called City of Learning [COL] to historic Paterson, New Jersey. COL embraces educators' argument that healthy neighborhoods support successful learning and makes school design and programming holistic by looking beyond the school building to the school setting at the neighborhood, town, and city scales. By doing so, it identifies schools as a potent new force in urban revitalization as it explands preK-12 educational options. The first section describes the framework of the "City of Learning" concept, which involves building schools as neighborhood foci and converting industrial and commercial facilities into schools. Subsequent sections present the plans for four nontraditional learning environments, using the city's rich architectural heritage, parks, existing schools, and libraries. 220p.

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.

Excerpt from the author's testimony before Georgia Governor's Education Reform Study Commission regarding the adverse impact on older schools under the state’s funding formula. Over 100 smaller, older Georgia school buildings have been closed since 1986. Provides justification for renovating older schools and keeping educational facilities within community centers. The author is President of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.

Brochure outlining the steps to take when making decisions about school siting: 1)consider renovation or expansion in a central location; 2)follow community's comprehensive plan; 3)site ancillary facilities such as playing fields creatively; 4) select a site where students can walk or cycle to school; 5) use existing services and facilities; 6) tap into community resources to plan school expansion; and 7) consult with site selection experts. This brochure urges school districts to avoid sprawl; consider school renovations or expansions in central locations; analyze school sites for their proximity to village centers and established neighborhoods; and select sites served by adequate roads, utilities, and other essential services.

This document updates California's 1996 guidelines for school district determination of land size needs to support their education programs. The guide reflects the changes in educational programs that have affected school site usage and size requirements and includes recommended changes in site acreage for very large schools; equal access for female athletes; classroom size and class size reductions; the need for a master plan of the site and functional link between educational specifications and site size; and site requirements for county community schools, community day schools, and continuation high schools. Also provided are numerous dimensional figures for athletic fields and courts. The document's final section presents procedures for developing a site plan. Appendices contain a comparison of school site sizes for 1996 and 2000; and lists site requirements for small schools and elementary through high school facilities, county community schools, community day schools, and continuation high schools. 48p.

This study examines the relationship between school consolidation and district transportation costs, effects on instructional expenditures, and institutional factors supporting consolidation. Data on actual student transportation costs across the United States indicate that despite widespread school and school district consolidation, transportation costs have increased, and transportation costs per child are greater in rural than urban school districts. Given the evidence that economy-of-scale arguments fail in rural school districts in terms of transportation costs, reasons beyond fiscal criteria must be driving consolidation. An analysis of the institutional environment shows how consolidation has been justified according to the exaction of state authority over local school districts, and has been supported through national policy towards housing and land use development. Institutional perspectives of organizational legitimacy and survival would not seem to justify consolidation, but consolidation always terminates some organizational form. Perhaps the organizational form of small schools and weak school districts makes them more susceptible to organizational death by other legitimacy-seeking organizations. It appears that higher transportation costs associated with extensive consolidation in rural areas constrain opportunities to fund quality instruction in rural areas. 53p.

This paper presents a study on how the South Carolina school site selection process can affect the quality of the students' experience and access to their schools. Focusing on students options for getting to school, e.g., hazards that prevent students from walking to school and the size of school sites that place schools on the edge of communities, the study found that students are four times more likely to walk to schools built before 1983 than to those built after 1983. The reasons for these trends is the disconnect between the school site selection process and land use planning considerations. School officials and planning agencies work independently of one another. This disconnect is partly attributed to current habits of site selection that were crystallizing in the early 1970s. Recommendations are discussed. Appendices provide lists of Lowcountry schools with data, schools with hazard routes and applicable date, and school sites by decade of construction. Appendices also present the percentage above and below state requirements of K-12 schools built in different decades, the South Carolina Department of Education criteria for school site selection, conservationist land use goals, and efforts to improve site selection in other states to avoid sprawl. A list of informational sources concludes the paper. 70p.

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.

The Charter School movement combined with New Urbanist designers have uncovered the importance of scale in creating school environments that are more responsive to the needs of children. This paper examines the possibilities for mutual benefit for school and community by integrating school-building into the new urbanist tool kit. The discussion covers actual implementation: a prototype building, a means for integration into the community structure, and a financial analysis geared toward developers. Also explored are the benefits of small schools, charter school laws, and the synergism realized from the cooperation of charter school operators and new urbanist developers. Concluding sections contain footnotes, an annotated bibliography, and Web site listings for additional information. 25p.

Profiles the Walker Creek Elementary School in North Richland Hills, Texas. The new school in a new residential development is conceived as a community center, and features outdoor learning areas, team teaching studios, informal gathering spaces, and commons areas instead of corridors.

Advocates planning for integrated delivery of educational and social services, using the opportunity in the post-Katrina Gulf Coast rebuilding to bring these services together into centralized facilities that relieve the duplication and disaggregation that currently characterizes these efforts.

Advises on assessing, renovating, and reusing older buildings for educational use, with particular attention to adaptive reuse of vacant commercial structures as schools, which may help anchor stressed neighborhoods.

Examines the relationship between urban form, distance, and middle school students walking and biking to and from four schools in Oregon. The results indicate that: 1) Urban form helps predict travel mode to and from school. 2) Middle school students walk further than planners expect. 3) Many students use a different mode when they travel to school from when they leave school. 4) Urban form measures that predict walking behavior differ from those that predict biking behavior. 5) Urban form is only one factor in students' transportation decisions.

Describes San Diego State University's efforts to bring mass transit to the campus, highlighting the institution's resistance to any plan that did not create a centrally-located facility that would most effectively reduce automobile use and be of maximum use.

Narrates Villanova University's struggle to locate and build a new law school, including a lack of available land, environmental concerns, and neighborhood opposition to the site, size, and design of the new building.

Schools are among the most ubiquitous institutions shaping city and regional ecology, policy, and everyday experience. In recent decades, planning historians have come to define planning ever more broadly, focusing on a great diversity of urban activities. But the design, development, and administration of public and private schools, from the preschool to university level, have yet to be incorporated into our discipline's debates and discussions to a significant degree. This article examines the broader history of American education and posits a variety of opportunities and questions to explore as the history of schools is incorporated into planning history.

Profiles a new Los Angeles elementary and high school built on restricted urban sites. The massing of the buildings, traffic and parking, athletic facilities, scale, and accommodation of community use are described.

Focuses public schools as public infrastructure, particularly in the context of inner cities and older suburbs. The article argues that there is a profound and detrimental "cities and schools disconnect," and as a field, planning has virtually ignored public schools. City planning scholars need to increase their engagement with public schools and school facilities and think more critically about how development and redevelopment decisions ultimately impact our public schools. Includes 36 references.

Reports results of surveys examining reasons why children do not walk or bike to school, with distance from school accounting for almost 60%, followed by traffic dangers (37%), exposure to weather (20%), and crime (14%). In 7% of the cases, the school did not even permit walking or biking to the campus. Includes nine references.

Advises on school site selection, recommending attention to state specifications and possible waivers from them, consideration of unusual sites, working with developers, placing more than one school on a site or otherwise sharing infrastructure, adaptive reuse of available commercial and other non-school buildings, and vertical expansion. Advice for evaluating sites is included.

Awareness is growing of programs and legislation that can leverage K–12 construction as a catalyst for economic development. This discusses the role that schools can play in rebuilding America's cities and how architects can help lead the way by advocating for changes, organizing, and developing model programs.

Disscusses the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to plan schools by combining census, land use, land ownership, transportation, housing, and student data. The importance of combining all data to make informed decisions is emphasized.

Interview with Jack McGrory about the holistic approach that Price Charities and local government have taken toward the revitalization of San Diego's City Heights neighborhood, including a discussion of working with the school district to build new schools, leveraging its bond resources.

Considers the relationship of race, community, and education to sprawl and examines education as a means toward managing sprawl. Desegregating and improving urban schools is detailed as a means to attract students and encourage close-in living. Includes 93 references.

Describes the logistical and social consequences of building large, remote, and pedestrian-unfriendly schools, efforts to preserve neighborhood schools, and opportunities for breaking up large schools into smaller learning communities. Historical and curricular reasons for constructing large schools, and some of the benefits realized when communities created smaller, neighborhood schools are also discussed.

Presents two papers that discuss the link between quality schools with quality cities. The first discusses the connection between schools, housing quality, and housing choice, citing examples where school-centered development has helped create viable mixed-income neighborhoods. The second describes San Francisco's experiences with schools as centers of communities, providing community learning, and social services. Includes three references.

The merger of the community school, smaller schools and Smart Growth movements typically occurs when planners are building new schools or renovating old ones as integral components of plans to revitalize deteriorating inner city neighborhoods.

Describes successful urban schools created in San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Raleigh, citing how they were sited and funded, the community services they provide, and the constituencies they serve.

School districts have been steadily abandoning walkable neighborhood schools in favor of corporate-style campuses outside established population centers. These "sprawl" schools not only make it impossible to walk, but also generate a demand for new housing and public water and sewer lines in rural areas. This discusses the issue of replacing or rebuilding older neighborhood schools, and the application of smart growth principles to school siting decisions.

More education planners are applying the principles of smart growth to schools in order to improve the quality of life by preserving green space, becoming more walkable, harnessing existing infrastructure, and becoming more fiscally capable. Includes case studies of the Downtown School in Minneapolis, the RiverPark East Intermediate School in Oxnard, California, and Chapman University in Orange, California.

Quality education is critical to a community's economic well-being. Businesses (especially those thriving in today's information age) look for communities where they can find a high caliber work force. The bottom line: quality education is important to cities and towns as they seek to attract, retain, and develop businesses.

Schools play an important role in urban planning and development. Across the country, a variety of solutions are being tested to improve schools and their relationship to surrounding communities. Describes the new schools at the Stapleton development in Denver, a new urbanist community.

Schools are an important community asset, and represent one of the largest capital outlays many local governments make. Decisions about school construction and renovation have profound implications for towns, cities, and counties nationwide. A look at trends and opportunities, impacts schools have, and the positive role planners and planning commissioners can play. Includes an extended sidebar by Barbara Kent Lawrence on what happens to communities when school doors close.

Describes explosive student population growth in several rapidly-expanding communities, and how they are dealing with the influx of students that their school systems or tax bases are not prepared for. Rapidly growing enrollment presents school districts with a number of challenges: planning for and financing construction, finding qualified teachers and other staff, educating the public and elected officials about the pressures of growth, and dealing with the trade-offs districts face when confronted with the need to constantly expand. This kind of growth isn't easy for any district, but it's particularly hard for low-wealth school systems that are struggling to maintain essential services.

Cites several examples of school facilities in non-traditional settings, integrated into and shared with the community. Benefits to land use, transportation, and community recreational opportunities are detailed.

A lack of land for new schools and additions is a common problem across the country, particularly in urban and fast-growing areas. To confront the problem, districts are building multistory schools, converting existing buildings to schools, and persuading housing developers to donate land or help build schools. Other districts in fast-growing areas have bought land on speculation while the cost is relatively modest. And in severe cases, districts that have the power of eminent domain—the right of governments to force owners to sell their land to them at fair market value for public purposes—have taken homes, businesses, farms, and other properties to build schools. [Free subscriber registration is required.]

Driven in part by concerns about stemming urban sprawl, in part by movements promoting smaller, neighborhood schools as antidotes to ailing educational quality, and in part by concern over keeping community cores intact, many people are asking whether it makes sense to keep putting up large new schools on the edge of town. Just as schools going up on the periphery of a community can promote sprawl, so a decision to build or renovate in the central city can generate revitalization.

Charter schools have proven an effective tool for urban economic development by reviving communities, providing services, and renovating older buildings. Because charter schools are not provided with a building, they are purchasing or leasing vacant, dilapidated properties and renovating them into spectacular new schools and community centers. Includes several case studies in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Newark.

Describes many aspects of simultaneously planning development and schools. The influence of the modern school system's composition, with magnet schools, charter schools, school shopping parents, shared facilities, and GIS technology is discussed.

Smaller, community-centered schools can help a district grow in many ways. This describes the characteristics of smart growth schools and how to overcome obstacles. It also summarizes policy reforms that make it easier to build smart growth schools.