By Michael听Bucalo, President & Owner, Friedrich Watkins Construction听

Higher education campuses rarely have the luxury of shutting down for construction. Libraries remain filled with students preparing for exams. Faculty continue teaching and conducting research. Staff maintain daily operations. Yet across the country, colleges and universities are investing heavily in modernizing aging facilities to meet evolving academic, technological and student needs.听

For contractors and campus leaders alike, the challenge is no longer simply completing a project on time and within budget. Success is measured by how well construction teams minimize disruption while听maintaining听a safe, functional environment for everyone who continues to use the building.听Working on occupied educational facilities has reinforced an important lesson: construction planning must begin with the people who rely on听the space听every day.听

Start With the Campus Experience听

Every educational facility serves a different purpose. A library operates differently than a science building, student union, or athletic facility. Before construction begins, project teams should understand how students, faculty, visitors and staff interact with the building throughout the day.听

Questions such as peak occupancy times, critical academic schedules, special events, and accessibility concerns should all be addressed during preconstruction planning 鈥� not after work begins.听When contractors understand how a building functions, they can develop phasing plans that reduce unnecessary interruptions and allow the institution to continue听operating听as smoothly as possible.听

Communication Is as Important as Construction听

One of the most overlooked aspects of occupied campus renovations is communication.听

Project owners, facilities teams, contractors, subcontractors, faculty, and campus leadership all need clear expectations before work begins. Regular updates help minimize confusion, reduce frustration and allow departments to prepare for temporary changes.听

Simple communication tools, including weekly planning meetings, updated construction schedules, clear signage, and designated points of contact often prevent small issues from becoming significant operational challenges.听The goal is not only to keep the project moving but also to听maintain听confidence among everyone affected by the work.听

Safety Extends Beyond the Jobsite听

Occupied campuses require contractors to think differently about safety.听Unlike a closed construction site, universities have thousands of students, faculty, visitors, and staff moving through adjacent spaces each day. Construction activities must account for pedestrian traffic, emergency access, deliveries, accessibility routes and changing campus schedules.听

Safety planning should include more than OSHA compliance. It should focus on protecting the campus community while allowing construction activities to听proceed听efficiently. Thoughtful听logistics听planning, secure work zones, dust and noise mitigation, and close coordination with campus facilities departments all contribute to a safer project.听

Flexibility Is Essential听

No occupied project unfolds exactly as planned.听Academic听calendars shift. Campus events听are听added. Deliveries change. Building occupants听identify听unforeseen needs after construction begins.听

Successful contractors recognize that flexibility is not a disruption to the听process,听it is part of the process.听Teams that communicate early, adapt quickly, and remain focused on solutions rather than obstacles create stronger partnerships with their clients and听ultimately deliver听better outcomes.听

Success Means More Than Completing the Project听

Construction teams naturally focus on schedules, budgets, and quality. Universities measure success a little differently.听

• Did students continue learning with minimal disruption?听
• Did faculty remain productive?听
• Did campus operations continue safely?听
• Did communication remain proactive throughout the project?听

The answers to those questions often听determine听whether a contractor becomes a long-term partner rather than simply completing a single project.听

Building Relationships Alongside Buildings听

As higher education institutions continue investing in renovations and modernization, contractors have an opportunity to become more than builders.听They can become partners who understand campus operations, anticipate challenges before they occur and deliver projects that support the institution’s broader mission.听

The most successful educational construction projects are not remembered because construction happened.听They are remembered because learning never stopped.听

Mike听Bucalo听is the President and Owner of Friedrich Watkins Construction of Tampa.听Learn more by visiting听.

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By Erin Bellis, Senior Manager of Security Products & Specifications, McGrory Glass Systems

In K-12 school architecture, a shift is occurring. For years, school-safety discussions focused on reactive, visible reinforcements. The immediate response to security threats involved retrofitting schools with steel bars, security听shutters听and windowless concrete entryways. While these measures听were intended听to protect, they听frequently听transformed centers of learning into cold, institutional spaces. Today, educational architects and school districts recognize that physical security must coexist with a student鈥檚 psychological well-being.听

The mandate for school construction requires achieving life-safety protection while preserving an open,听transparent听and welcoming environment. This balance is known as Human-Centered Design听(HCD). By prioritizing daylighting, clear lines of sight, and biophilic connections, architects can foster an atmosphere where students focus on academics. Central to this design philosophy is the implementation of “invisible hardening”听鈥斕齛dvanced security glazing systems engineered to withstand physical and ballistic attacks while听remaining听indistinguishable from standard architectural glass.听

鈥淲e can make almost any space secure, but if you鈥檙e not careful, it can end up looking like a jail,鈥� says Chad Snyder,听Senior听Director of the听Security听Division at McGrory Glass. 鈥淭hat challenge has forced manufacturers to develop security glazing that performs like a hardened product but听doesn鈥檛听have to be installed in heavy, industrial-looking hollow-metal frames. Instead, these products can work in aluminum storefront systems and other framing while still providing attack resistance.鈥�听

Two recent elementary school projects听demonstrate听how specialized glazing fabrication transforms security from an imposing obstacle into a protective layer of a听building鈥檚听envelope.听

Unifying History and Security: DCPS Truesdell Elementary School听

In Washington, D.C., the modernization of DCPS Truesdell Elementary School presented an architectural challenge. Designed by VMDO Architects, the project required unifying historic 1920s structures with high-performance modern additions. The school needed to create an environment that felt open and connected to the surrounding听community, yet听structurally prepared for unauthorized听breach听attempts.听

To bridge the gap between life safety and aesthetic transparency, the design team听utilized听McGrory Glass鈥櫶�听security glazing. Engineered specifically for high-traffic educational environments, this attack-resistant glass features a proprietary interlayer designed to prevent body passage during physical attacks. Tested to standards such as ASTM F1233 and ASTM F3561, the glazing can withstand sustained physical assaults from tools like bats,听hammers听and crowbars for听nearly 15听minutes. This structural durability offers school administrators a tactical advantage: the time听required听to execute lockdown protocols and await emergency response.听

The baseline of how manufacturers approach these spaces has undergone听a paradigm shift. As Erin Bellis,听Senior听Manager of听Security听Products and听Performance听Specifications at McGrory Glass, points out, school security requirements look vastly different today than they did a couple of decades ago.听

鈥淔ifteen years ago, the industry wasn鈥檛 really thinking about security glass in schools,鈥� Bellis explains. 鈥淭hat changed significantly after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. It forced manufacturers to rethink their products, especially for schools that might not be able to afford more robust ballistic glazing.鈥�听

What makes the Truesdell Elementary installation a benchmark for human-centered design is its technical integration. Rather than treating security zones as isolated barriers, the security glazing was integrated with听Solarban庐 low-e coatings. This allowed the specialized security panels to match the visual appearance of standard IGUs (insulated glass units) used throughout the rest of the campus.听

By听eliminating听the visual cues of a security barrier, the building听maintains听aesthetic uniformity. Students and staff move between security perimeters and open community spaces without any added psychological weight. Several of the security glass panels feature custom decorative gradient fades fabricated in-house. These gradients enhance occupant comfort and localized privacy while allowing natural light to flood into the learning spaces, proving that proactive school safety and clean design can coexist within the same square foot.听

Erin Bellis is the Senior Manager of Security Products & Specifications at McGrory Glass Systems.

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By Mary Ruppenthal听听

Creating safe environments is the top priority when it comes to designing schools. From an architectural standpoint, addressing both physical and psychological factors when it comes to safety is vital. After all, security isn鈥檛 simply a matter of creating a safe and secure campus perimeter and single point of public entry. It鈥檚 about fostering community and placemaking, empowering ownership and promoting positive interactions鈥攁ll of which serve as a foundation for student and staff safety. Effective school design practices nurture belonging, flex to adapt to evolving learning styles and, of course, establish physical security.听

Belong: Safeguarding Openness and Inclusivity

Building community starts with framing schools as student-centered spaces. By minimizing secluded and isolated areas and maximizing passively supervisable open spaces for a variety of large and small group gatherings, designers can craft places that enhance positive connections while reducing stress and anxiety. Conversely, dark corners and unsupervised spaces tend to increase the potential for bullying and disruptive behavior. Clear sightlines matter, so that teachers, staff, and students can observe or engage across adjacent spaces.听

While students need to be seen in the literal sense, they also need to feel seen. Students are less likely to slip through the cracks when their learning environment delivers options for a variety of learning styles, including smaller gathering and break-out sessions, contemplative spaces and room to gather on a larger scale. Therefore, weaving collaborative spaces of different sizes throughout the environment is key to nurturing a sense of connection.听听

Architects are also finding ways to shift teacher-student interactions from purely occurring in the classroom to more organic encounters throughout the campus. For example, by building administrative offices at the back of the student union, teachers and students naturally and informally interact as teachers pass through the communal space.听

On larger campuses, the idea of creating a school within a school is gaining traction. Designing educational environments to accommodate cohorts of 250 students or less can help nurture a sense of belonging. If students feel engaged and welcome in part, through a campus鈥� layout that鈥檚 an important step toward building pride of place. Technical elements, like comfortable seating and warm colors, help create an inviting atmosphere. Leaning into flexible spaces is also an excellent path to supporting a strong, inclusive culture.听听听听听听

Adapt: Enhancing Flexibility for Maximizing Learning and Community听

Accommodating different learning styles requires flexibility in terms of classroom and campus configurations. For example, kinesthetic learning requires ample space for movement and collaboration, ideally with plentiful wall and even interior window space for whiteboarding and wallboarding. Without losing connection to the main classroom, break-off spaces for varying levels of small-group lessons or contemplative study require passive supervision.听听听

The average 960-square-foot classroom can flex in a variety of ways to meet students where they are. For example, operable partitions can help reconfigure a classroom, creating smaller spaces or opening to a larger collaborative environment. Beyond the classroom itself, glass walls and windows to common areas allow visible connections to adjoining learning and gathering spaces. In the case of indoor-outdoor layouts, a glass garage door connection could provide a supervisory link to an exterior space where louder, messier or larger projects can take place.听

At the high school level, creating a multi-use, dynamic space rather than a siloed building not only enhances efficiency, but also checks all the boxes of a safe environment: passive supervision, pride of place and interconnectedness. For example, HED鈥檚 Yerba Buena High School鈥檚 new performing and fine arts classroom and theater building completely re-envisions and revives the visual and performing arts community on the campus. The design of multipurpose classrooms and stage space (divided by an operable partition as needed), replaces what was once a stagnant and rarely used theater at the end of its useful life and will, when complete, be dynamically full of student life with space to gather throughout the day, visual and performing art classes and display, performances, and community events.听听

Mary Ruppenthal is an architect and Education Market Sector leader at 听

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Today鈥檚 teachers and students aren鈥檛 tethered to a wall by technology. Nor do they embrace a traditional, one-sided classroom. New pedagogies and learning styles 鈥� i.e., visual, kinetic, contemplative and collaborative 鈥� are shaping not only the way teachers teach, but the way we design the spaces in which education flourishes. The freedom and challenge of creating forward-thinking and effective school design involves understanding and incorporating a range of teaching styles and priorities into each reenvisioned classroom. Of course, administrators must also navigate the funding hurdles of building or renovating these spaces. As pedagogies, technologies and funding requirements evolve, here’s what鈥檚 trending in the K-12 school design landscape for 2025 and beyond.听

Flexible, Resilient Spaces听

Every corner, wall and inch of today鈥檚 classroom has the potential to be functional. Designing four-sided classrooms that allow for collaborative projects as well as individualized learning (in all its forms) requires flexibility. In terms of today鈥檚 layout, that may mean creating breakout spaces for quiet moments where students can read and focus while retaining visible connectivity for teachers to observe what鈥檚 happening in those areas. Another option to shape learning spaces differently involves clustering classrooms (while still meeting square-footage requirements) and dividing that larger space into both contemplative and collective learning environments.听

听听When looking at the big picture, the focus on flexibility isn鈥檛 a short-term design commitment. Today鈥檚 buildings need to be designed so that they can be inexpensively renovated 50 years from now. To that end, today鈥檚 designers are focusing on the following:听

• Creating flexible floor plates where load-bearing walls don鈥檛 stand in the way of reconfiguring future spaces听

• Implementing HVAC and technology systems that are designed with an eye for change over time听

• Feeding the underground infrastructure and utilities to a location within the building that can be an easy point of connection and allows for future reconfiguration听

Building with resilience in mind is not only forward-thinking but also cost-effective. Often a new build is not in the budget, so designers can look to current structures to determine if the existing infrastructure can support new educational goals. To repurpose or modernize a building, we look for good bones, robust building materials and, of course, ways to flex the space, either by adding partitions or removing non-load-bearing walls. For example, HED鈥檚 redesign of Discovery Building incorporated potentially demountable interior walls among other highly adaptable elements. Given that technology paves the way for much of the evolution of learning, upgrading Wi-Fi and creating space for IT infrastructure is a key component in current and future school design.听

Leveling up the CTE Experience听

Particularly at the high school level, career technical education (CTE) is seeing a huge resurgence. At HED, we鈥檙e designing everything from robotics labs and metal, wood and autobody shops to electrician spaces and agricultural facilities. In terms of design, this resurgence doesn鈥檛 just involve the hands-on mechanics of CTE learning, but also an elevated, integrated design that allows students to hone these skills in a forward-looking setting.听

Working with one鈥檚 hands involves having technology at one鈥檚 fingertips, which means building labs that combine all of these elements. For example, a drafting lab incorporates the fundamentals of learning how to draw and design, plus a computer software component and a fabrication element. Students start with the basics, get a feel for the technology and, ultimately, their drawings come to life through 3D printing or implementation through the use of a CNC machine.听

By leveling up the CTE experience, students get real world experience in a range of areas of expertise. For example, at the , students learn not only the theory and practice of how to humanely raise animals, but also how to bring them to market.听

Embracing Sustainability and the Outdoors听

As stewards of the environment, educators and architects have a common goal of creating learning spaces that are healthy, energy efficient and sustainable. Therefore, both old-school and innovative eco-friendly design elements are trending in school buildings across the nation as we work toward net-zero, carbon neutrality and American Institute of Architects鈥� 2030 goals.听

On the back-to-basics side of the equation, we鈥檙e seeing tried-and-true design elements, such as a reinvention of the passive heating and cooling techniques of the past. Daylighting, in lieu of energy-heavy artificial illumination, is also making a comeback. Innovations, such as displacement ventilation, which delivers slow-velocity air in a low-to-high manner, creates healthier and more efficient ventilation than traditional HVAC systems. Photovoltaics (PVs) are being implemented into shade structures as well as rooftops, particularly in states like California where PV is required on new builds per the state code.听

In mild climates, a move toward indoor-outdoor classrooms is also gaining traction. When deliberately integrated into the learning experience, this design shift goes well beyond connecting a classroom to a patio via a garage door. These outdoor spaces, such as HED鈥檚 Jefferson Elementary School Outdoor Learning project (part of the San Francisco Unified School District), are both functional and comfortable. Depending on what鈥檚 being taught in the space, different tools and design elements, such as tables, shade, shelter from the wind or a weather-resistant whiteboard, may be part of the outdoor classroom. These spaces can also provide collaborative areas for louder and messier projects than indoor classrooms.听听听听

Student Wellbeing and Safety without Fences听

Students need to be able to come and go without feeling like they鈥檙e imprisoned. As architects, we are discovering ways to build safe learning spaces without just putting up bars and eliminating windows. We must ask: Can a building have a single point of entry when students are in class? Could we design windows so that there鈥檚 always visibility from an entry point? Can classroom doors be lockable from the inside? Are we able to design refuge at the rear of the classroom or underneath windows? In the landscape between classrooms, are there ways to create spaces that provide duck-and-cover shelter, such as shrubbery or benches? Thinking beyond fences is important. It鈥檚 our job to create spaces where kids feel like they can learn while also ensuring their safety.听听听

The Takeaway for School Decision-makers听

No matter how flexible, resilient, innovative, sustainable and safe a learning space may be, communication is the key to unlocking the best school design. When designers are given direct access to teachers, our number one job is to listen. If we can garner a clear understanding of how an educator teaches and what their goals and passions are, we can design a space that enhances the learning experience exponentially.听

For example, in conversations with a woodshop teacher about his dreams for his classroom, our team was able to tap into his desire to teach a sustainable curriculum and build a sense of community for his students outside of class time. So, with a nod to sustainability, we modernized the building while highlighting curriculum-related elements, such as putting up plexiglass over exposed wood studs or opening up the ceiling to reveal duct work and conduits. The building became a teaching tool. We also removed outdated ductwork in the mezzanine to create a cyber caf茅 where students could hang out, study and socialize. That initial conversation transformed what would have been a good space into a great learning environment.

Jennette La Quire is a principal and serves as pre-K-12 business leader at .听

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Campus safety could not be a timelier topic, from elementary school and high school to college and university campuses. Larger issues like gun control will take time to address as students arrive on college campuses. Underlying and growing in parallel on our campuses is stress among students that have seen the unthinkable happen time and time again, continuing to feel unsafe and needing safety in every way. They crave clarity, predictability and peace. They need well-being.

Last year, I covered ways to improve safety through design strategies like Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED). But we can expand this toolkit in other ways, taking a view on campus safety of broader dimensions. Studies dating back to 2001 show well-being design strategies reduced mental fatigue, hostility and outbursts of anger. In one study 鈥� titled 鈥淓nvironment and Crime in the Inner City: Does Vegetation Reduce Crime?鈥� 鈥� greener buildings resulted in 52 percent fewer felonies, with 7 to 8 percent linked to increased access to nature, which is also strongly tied to increased calm, ability to focus, reduced absence and greatly improved school retention rates. Stress inhibits situational awareness, the conscious observance of one鈥檚 surroundings that alerts to health and safety threats, and we miss leakage, the term for the hints disturbed people leave that forewarn catastrophic behavior.

Environmental Stressors

Environmental stressors affect our bodies without our knowledge or volition, constantly affecting our well-being. New understanding of our physiological and psychological relationship with our environment applied to campus planning, design and architecture can improve daily experience, well-being and support individual resiliency. At our disposal are:

鈥� Experience Design, the process of identifying, designing, delivering and maintaining meaningful experiences over time;

鈥� Biophilic Design, the process of design that stems from understanding the inherent human inclination to affiliate with nature; and

鈥� Multi-Sensory Design, the process of design based on the application of scientific study of sensory perception and its effect on well-being.

These strategies contribute to the Settings Approach to design.

Settings Approach

The term Settings Approach refers to health and well-being stemming from the settings of daily life. As discussed by Dr. Mark Dooris, leader of the United Kingdom鈥檚 Healthy Universities Model and Framework Project and a founding contributor to the Okanagan Charter, this holistic model is concerned with making the actual places where people spend their time 鈥� the physical reality of our campuses 鈥� supportive of well-being.

The Settings Approach is at the core of the Okanagan Charter. It was created in 2015 by more than 380 researchers, practitioners, administrators, students and policy makers from 45 countries, including representatives from the World Health Organization; Pan American Health Organization; and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on the territory of the Okanagan Nation in Kelowna, Canada. The charter is being adopted by increasing numbers of institutions nationally, setting a commitment and process for well-being on all campuses.

The charter includes two Calls to Action 鈥� embed health into all aspects of campus culture, across administration, operations and academic mandates, and lead health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally. Four sub-goals pertain particularly to physical planning, design and maintenance of campus facilities, landscape and infrastructure.

鈥� Include health, well-being and sustainability in all planning and decision-making of campuses and communities, with practices integrated and coordinated across all campus programs.

鈥� Identify opportunities to study and support health and well-being as well as sustainability and resilience, in built and natural academic and learning environments.

鈥� Proactively and intentionally create empowered, connected and resilient campus communities.

鈥� Use cross-cutting approaches to embed understanding and commitment to health, well-being and sustainability in every aspect of campus life, thereby providing both healthful experience and habits that students will carry into life after graduation.

Two of the charter鈥檚 key principles directly address school construction and infrastructure: a focus on settings and whole system approaches and emphasis on comprehensive, campus-wide approaches to development and implementation plans for campus communities.

What More Can We Do?

First and foremost, central to the charter is defying silos and working with campus colleagues who may have only participated peripherally or incidentally in the development of campus facilities and master plans in the past. The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) has been at the forefront of educating student life administrators to the Settings Approach and aspects of campus planning and design that affect well-being. Get to know the student life administrators at your institution. Engage them in the development of new projects beyond the cursory initial focus groups. They want to be your partner and will be there to monitor success through the life of the facility.

Don鈥檛 wait for a major project to begin. A great success story from Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Vancouver, an early adopter of the Okanagan Charter, started with a simple renovation of a tired study area completed in-house by Facilities Services. Together, Rosie Dhaliwal, acting associate director of Health Promotion, and Marcos Olindan from Facilities Services began to expand the typical process, engaging students in deeper, more meaningful and continuous ways and focusing on features that improve the social, mental and physical health and well-being of space users.

The renewed area was so successful that the process was repeated many times in other areas throughout SFU鈥檚 Academic Quadrangle. Principles for Enhancing Well-Being Through Physical Spaces at SFU, guidelines developed from these projects, are now part of SFU鈥檚 Healthy Campus Community initiative, and are used in tandem with existing design procedures and standards such as WELL Building Standard, Whole Building Design Guide, LEED and CPTED.

Students are standing up, demanding greater response to campus safety. We are all on a learning curve, but with a more comprehensive attitude, we have tools and strategies available to meet this challenge.

Celine Larkin, AIA, LEED AP, is an architect, urban designer and campus planner with a passion for improving educational settings, currently focused on research into Gen Z and strategies that increase well-being and learning in all built environments. Formerly head of Urban Design/Master Planning at HGA Architects, Engineers + Planners and Gensler Los Angeles, she now consults internationally, based in Doha, Qatar.

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The study assessed the safety resources by first compiling a list of the 100 most-attended universities in the nation as well as the largest college in every state that wasn鈥檛 represented on the list 鈥� totaling 113 schools. Then, the CollegeStats.org team found each college鈥檚 security information or campus police webpage to identify emergency phone numbers, safety tips, crime statistics and reports, and sexual assault procedures. Each university was rated based on how easy it was to access this information.

University of Hawaii at Manoa (UH Manoa), which ranked No. 7 on the list, included a variety of resources and information in the redesign of the UH Manoa Department of Public Safety鈥檚 website last year. It features online sign-up for training sessions and workshops, including Active Shooter Awareness & Response, Safety & Wellness and Hurricane Preparedness. It also features safety tips and sexual assault resources in five languages, a downloadable Emergency Response Guidebook and download links for a campus safety app.

Another factor that played into the study was the campus police department鈥檚 presence on social media platforms. The CollegeStats.org team ranked each account using analytics such as the amount of followers, likes, and daily activity or involvement. For instance, the No. 1 school on the college campus safety page list was the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Its police department has more than 4,800 followers on Twitter.

Using data analysis for all of the criteria, CollegeStats.org determined the top 50 list, which included these top 10 colleges and universities:

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Ill.
• University of Washington, Seattle
• University of Wisconsin鈥揗adison, Madison, Wis.听University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.
• University of Nebraska鈥揕incoln, Lincoln, Neb.
• University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.
• University of Hawaii Manoa, Honolulu
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.
• West Virginia University, Morgantown, W.V.
• University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

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The intersection at 29th Avenue and 12th Street North serves more than 14,000 vehicles a day, and is a main pathway to school for both students and staff. This is a bad combination, considering the intersection is missing a crosswalk button on the school side of the street, according to . Pedestrians instead depend on the green traffic light to be alerted of when to cross.

As part of the school’s Community Problem Solving (CmPS) team, Grace Fischer and Caleb Dirckx, both 12, came up with a detailed action plan to solve the problem. The plan included asking for intersection improvements, recruiting neighbors to serve as crossing guards and meeting with city officials to voice their concerns.

At the May 4 city council meeting, the St. Cloud City Council approved $16,000 in improvements at the intersection. These include creating a school zone within one block of both directions of the school, installing flashing lights on the pedestrian sign, painting zebra stripes in the intersection, replacing the crosswalk button and installing a countdown timer, reported . All improvements will be completed by the time school starts this fall.

Council Member Carol Lewis told that one of her classmates died at a similar intersection along 29th Avenue when she was attending North Junior High School, so she is glad the council finally approved the safety upgrades. Mayor Dave Kleis was so impressed by the students’ initiative that he made Dirckx an ex-officio member of the Transportation Infrastructure Advisory Board.

North Junior High School is one of two schools in St. Cloud Area School District 742 that are actively involved in the CmPS program, which was founded in 1974 to encourage critical-thinking skills, help students develop a vision for the future and stimulate creative problem-solving skills.

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