:: School Superintendent’s Summit ::
One of the most viable design issues facing Alabama and our nation is the design of our schools. Across the United States, the number of students entering the public educational school system is increasingly dramatic. The U.S. Department of Education once estimated that the school aged population would increase by nearly one million students between 2000 and 2006.
At the same time that that the student population is increasing, existing school facilities are slowly falling into a state of disrepair. The dichotomy of growth and disrepair leaves us with a difficult question. How do we design proper and valuable school buildings that enhance the education of our students, while offering a greater contribution to the built environment? This is a tough question to answer, but DesignAlabama and a number of partnership organizations want to work with Alabama’s school superintendent’s to help answer this question.
Along with the Alabama Alliance for Arts Education, the American Architectural Foundation, the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Alabama State Department of Education and others, DesignAlabama is offering the opportunity to five school superintendents’s to examine how they can solve school design issues in their community.
About School Superintendent’s Summit
DesignAlabama will host a day and a half design summit for five of Alabama’s school superintendents. The superintendent’s selected through an application process will have the opportunity to discuss a number of items. Among likely topics to be discussed
- How to build Green/energy efficient schools with state of the art technology that provide a healthier place for our children to learn
- How to create more livable communities through neighborhood schools
- How to use neighborhood schools as a way to keep residents in neighborhoods
- How to work within regulations for school building with creative design
Superintendent’s interested in applying for the Summit, taking place October 29-30, 2008 at the Marriott Legends in Prattville, will find there is no cost to them except for travel. In order to be considered, superidnentants are asked to fill out an application and to meet the following requirements for current projects:
- Applicants should ideally have a major school construction or renovation project in the planning or preliminary design stage. It should be far enough along in the planning stage to allow for review and comment. Comments should be able to be implemented with out major funding implications.
- As an alternative to presenting a major construction project, superintendant’s can present a long range facilities plan as a basis for discussion.
Download flyer and application form.(pdf files)