By Jennette La Quire, AIA, LEED AP ID+C听

Across all grade levels,听hands-on learning is听gaining renewed momentum. As teachers and administrators听increasingly embrace experiential approaches, education is transforming into a more active,听collaborative听and dynamic process听for students. This shift is fueling a demand to听creatively and effectively听connect theoretical knowledge and practical听application听鈥� and is听set to define 2026 and beyond.听听

Nurturing Wellbeing with (and without) Technology听

Safety is the priority for all school design stakeholders. Creating a single point-of-entry, while allowing for emergency egress from various parts of the campus, is a strategic way to enhance security without installing overbearing fencing. Windows enable passive supervision and enhance the overall atmosphere. While light and healthy learning spaces are ideal, they must also be designed with potential threats in mind. Aside from window treatments, interior locks, places to duck-and-cover, and screening via shrubbery, schools are starting to install call buttons (also known as panic buttons), which can instantly alert the entire campus to an emergency. This style of broadcast system is an听additional听tool to make students feel safe without making them feel confined.

High-resolution听security cameras听are becoming increasingly common, and not just on the听exterior. High schools are experiencing an uptick of students vaping in bathrooms, setting off smoke detectors, and flushing vapes down the toilet, often leading to plumbing issues. One trending solution involves placing a high-resolution camera at the bathroom鈥檚 exterior entrance听as a deterrent,听since听they鈥檒l听be seen entering or exiting the restroom where these incidents occur.听

Adapting to Pre-K (or TK) Inclusion听

At the elementary level, school districts are听following听funding听and policy听shifts to incorporate听transitional kindergarten (TK),听also known as pre-K,听into听both听new and听existing听buildings. The听challenge听for planners and designers is that state听policies听often require preschools to听meet听lower teacher-to-student ratios than the rest of the school,听along with听in-class restrooms听that are easy to supervise.

In听HED鈥檚听听across听the听San Francisco Bay Area, cost-effective use of existing infrastructure has been central to successful modernization efforts.For new construction, districts that have not yet received funding or mandates are proactively planning for future TK integration by including听stubbing in听plumbing and听allocating听additional听classroom space.听

Fine-Tuning Food Service听

For school districts in California (and elsewhere), the free-lunch policy instituted during the COVID-19听era has听continued.听As a result, the number of students taking advantage of accessible food has ballooned. To adapt to the听increased strain on the cafeteria space and staff, food service is shifting away from long queues of counter service to 鈥渟peed lines.鈥澨鼳t听Palo Alto鈥檚 Gunn High School,听HED听instituted lines that move along both sides of grab-and-go, center islands. Minimal staff听members听are听required to听scan items at the end of the two lines, ensuring each student receives a well-rounded听meal听and the food service director can track the volume of items听consumed.听The trend to听streamline food service听helps听minimize听queues,听allowing听more time for children to eat,听and听measures听the impact on kitchen capacity.听

Reimagining CTE听

Career Technical Education (CTE) spaces have become听drivers听for design innovation. Gone are the days of tucking woodshop or auto mechanics in a back room. Practical, hands-on learning environments are taking center stage alongside technology, math,听science听and art instruction.听

In some cases, schools are proactively linking the contemplative and kinetic aspects of CTE,听facilitating听connectivity through all aspects of a particular career pathway. HED鈥檚 project at Santana High School听in听San Diego County, Calif.,听involved converting a formerly HVAC equipment-filled mezzanine into a viewing corridor linking the computer lab to the fabrication lab. Given this easy connection, students can work on architectural and engineering project calculations and drawings; then, they can easily move to the neighboring auto shop, fabrication lab, or electronics lab to bring their creation to life. Incorporating both the technical and hands-on aspects of that learning experience helps students get a feel for different careers, such as engineering versus construction, and gain insight into potential pathways after graduation.

Embracing the 鈥渋f you can see it, you can be it鈥� philosophy, the Grossmont Union High School District integrated a听into its campus. The facility delivers professional training and certifications for in-demand careers, such as dental assistant, vet tech, phlebotomist, EMT and nursing assistant. For younger students, it creates a sense of access and possibility.听

Read more about听CTE spaces, and听how adaptable spaces and听new technologies听can also support flexibility and sustainability,听in the听November/December Technology edition of 糖心少女.听

Jennette La Quire, AIA, LEED AP ID+C, is the听Pre-K-12 Sector Leader听at HED and a member of the 糖心少女 Editorial Advisory Board.听

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By Lindsey Coulter听

Clayton County Public Schools will unveil a first-of-its-kind educational facility for Pre-K students at the start of the 2025-2026 school year. Designed by the nation鈥檚 largest K-12 architecture firm,听, the听Riverdale听Early Learning Center (Riverdale ELC) introduces new opportunities for young learners in the Atlanta metro area.听听听

Tailored to early learners,听Riverdale听ELC is designed to provide students with a safe and secure space that is accessible and functional, while also remaining playful. Offering听outdoor learning opportunities, the campus will include an accessible playground, amphitheater and four classroom clusters鈥攅ach focused on a different geographical region in Georgia.听In addition to a media center, STEM lab and rooms dedicated to art, music and play, Riverdale ELC will even offer wraparound services for community members such as vision and dental care, employment services and social services. This inclusive approach meant the PBK design team needed to carefully balance safety and security for students and educators without compromising a playful and nurturing environment.听

鈥淲e were approached by Clayton County Public Schools to help get their enrollment rates back up,鈥� said Bayleigh Kempainen, AIA, managing principal of PBK鈥檚 Sugar Hill, Ga. 鈥淭he district lost a lot of students during COVID, and they found that a lot of their students weren’t graduating.鈥�听

As research shows that early exposure to fun and engaging learning environments increases the odds that students will successfully matriculate from high school, Kempainen explained, the purpose of the early Learning Center was multi layered. The project aims to meet the county鈥檚 pre-kindergarten education needs while reengaging students that had fallen off the radar and increasing their long-term educational success. The 24-classroom facility will serve an estimated 500 students; however, the project won鈥檛 just focus on young learners

鈥淚t’s more than just a Pre-K center,鈥� Kempainen said. 鈥淚t also includes wrap-around community services.鈥�听

These services include a daycare center, health clinic, counseling services, observation rooms that allow parents to watch their children engage in play therapy sessions and more. However, with the additional focus on community engagement and creating a true community resource, safety and security for students specifically was key.

The PBK design team took a multi-pronged approach to security, creatively working safety considerations into the structure without making the campus feel like a fortress. This included an awareness of sightlines into learning areas, integrating security technology and durable door hardware, and building discrete layers of security around students, starting at the classroom level and moving outward to the six-classroom pod level. The team considered how individual pods could be locked down to prevent access, if necessary, but maintained a sense of the pods as being a sort of welcoming home base for students. 听

“[Safety] was one of the top priorities, but we also balanced it with our interiors, creating engaging spaces where students can use their imaginations, get outside and have fun at school,鈥� Kempainen said. 鈥淲e were very careful not to allow any access to the Pre-K center from inside the building. From the outside, it all looks like one campus, but on the inside there’s no path from one [area] to the other.鈥�听

Additionally, the building鈥檚 angles create interior playgrounds, which further helps to control access, and most windows are positioned to look into the interior play spaces rather than to the building鈥檚 exterior. These spaces are also directly viewable from the principal鈥檚 office and teacher work rooms for added monitoring.听

According to Kempainen, many of these safety and security tactics are client driven. 听

鈥淥ur responsibility as designers is to bring up the latest and greatest and trends that we see. That might be security detectors or double doors. We recommend these things听but ultimately, [the client is] going to tell us what sort of technologies they’d like us to use. I feel like as we progress in the safety and security world, it is all becoming more technologically advanced.鈥�听

Learn more about the project in the , which focuses on more safety and security topics and trends.听

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NEW YORK 鈥� The new Pre-K Center 613 facility was recently selected as one of the winners of the Concrete Industry Board鈥檚 Award of Merit for best design in concrete.

Located at 369 93rd Street in Brooklyn, the new three-story school is sited in a dense urban block surrounded by residential buildings, developed by the New York City School Construction Authority and designed by MDSzerbaty Associates Architecture as part of Mayor Bill DeBlasio鈥檚 鈥淧re-K-For-All鈥� initiative.

鈥淲e are grateful for the challenges given to us by the SCA to consider alternate systems for the structure and envelope to expedite construction,鈥� said Michael Freedman, principal of MDSzerbaty Associates Architecture. 鈥淥ur use of a concrete structure, prefabricated precast wall panels and curtain wall resulted in a high quality, energy-efficient building that was constructed in record time.鈥�

The rest of the project鈥檚 team includes: Thornton Tomasetti (Weidlinger Associates, Inc.) as structural engineer of record, NYC SCA Construction Management as construction manager, T. Moriarty & Son, Inc. as general contractor, Darcon Construction, Inc. as concrete subcontractor (foundation and superstructure), BPDL Inc. (Be虂ton Pre虂fabrique虂 du Lac) as concrete subcontractor (precast), U.S. Concrete-New York as ready mix concrete supplier, and Future Tech Consultants of NY, Inc. as the field testing laboratory.

The building is a concrete structure with a highly efficient precast concrete, curtain wall and metal rain screen envelope that exceeds energy code requirements. Expansive glass surfaces with shade control brings significant natural light to interiors.

The school is also honored for its outstanding design in the 2018 American School and University Architectural Portfolio, a premier showcase celebrating the best in educational design.

The school provides 14 classrooms for 252 students and includes administration offices, a community room and a clerestory-lit multi-purpose room at the cellar level. The interiors use a variety of materials that tie together common and classroom spaces with a soft yet vibrant color palette. The front yard setback provides space for outdoor play areas.

To shorten the construction duration, a reinforced concrete frame with architectural insulated precast wall panels were chosen for their ability to be rapidly constructed and erected.

The building is a Certified NYC Green School, equivalent or greater than LEED for Schools Certification.

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Earlier this month, put his autograph on a bill, which permits the alienation of part of the New York Hall of Science’s parking lot to allow a pre-K center to be built there.

鈥淭he city received the necessary legal approval from the state legislature to utilize the public parkland in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, which currently houses the New York Hall of Science due to a similar alienation granted decades ago,” said borough President Melinda Katz, in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of our state legislators, this is now a prime example of how the process can work. Queens looks forward to the groundbreaking of a brand new, state-of-the-art pre-K school at the Hall of Science.鈥�

Katz had pushed for the bill’s approval, which was necessary because, even though the site is presently a parking lot, it鈥檚 also officially public parkland, and use of the space required approval by the state Legislature and governor. In , 鈥渁lienation鈥� is the ability for a piece of property or a property right to be sold or otherwise transferred from one party to another, which can now occur thanks to the bill鈥檚 passage. Last April 2017, Katz insisted the city to pursue appropriate approval from the state legislature per the Public Trust Doctrine, which mandates that parks and other natural resources should be kept for public enjoyment and that alienation of parkland must be authorized specifically by the New York State legislature.

鈥淧roceeding otherwise would have set a dangerous precedent,鈥� Katz said to , a Queens-based news service. 鈥淭he use of public parkland must go through proper channels, even by the city of New York. The action effectively creates hundreds of new pre-K seats with STEM curriculum, and it was critical to follow the proper procedure of the public trust doctrine in the interest of protecting public parkland from unfettered development.鈥�

Not everyone is happy about the development. Parkland advocates were against the alienation of any parkland, but politico heavyweights, including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, emphasized that the process was completed transparently and in accordance with the law. Some park advocates, however, claim they were not aware of the plan until a reporter from the reached out to them last month.

The legislation was introduced by state Sen. Jose Peralta and state Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry.

鈥淚 want to applaud Governor Andrew Cuomo for signing into law my bill that will allow the City to build a much-needed pre-k center in an effort to fight the severe school overcrowding my district has faced for decades,” Peralta said in a statement. “It is unthinkable that in 2017 New York City children are learning in classroom trailers, and this is why the construction of a state-of-the-art pre-K school next to the Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park will benefit the community.”

The new school is expected to accommodate 300 students with an academic focus on math and science. Construction on the site is slated for completion in 2019.

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