National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities

What an amazing list of resources here for many different issues. The have guidelines, advocacy articles, and case studies for you to look through AND they are nicely organized by subject matter.

http://www.edfacilities.org/rl/index.cfm

Riley Institute at Furman web resources

I have mentioned to many of you about the work conducted by one of our partners the Riley Institute's Center for Education and Policy Research. To visit results and a description of the Hewlett Project visit:

http://cepl.furman.edu/index.php?page=37

Links to Web Resources

Over the next few days I will be posting resources from some of our partners around South Carolina as well as a few web resources that we all should know about. If you have webpages that you think everyone should see, please post them directly or send them to me at rsidebottom@arts.sc.gov. Thanks!

Our first installment is a link to the US Environmental Protection Agency's Smart Growth and Schools webpage where you will find links to many great publications.

http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/schools.htm



One of their most helpful publications is:



"Schools for Successful Communities: An Element of Smart Growth" a joint publication by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Council of Educational Facility Planners International in 2004.
http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/pdf/SmartGrowth_schools_Pub.pdf

South Carolina is even mentioned as a model for it's 2003 elimination of minimum acreage standards for schools.

Next Monthly Conference Call this Thursday July 23rd at 2pm

Our next monthly conference call will be this Thursday July 23rd at 2pm. We will discuss putting the finishing touches on case studies and a few other volunteer opportunities that have surfaced. Those of you in Columbia are welcome to join the conference call from the SC Arts Commission Building on Gervais Street. If you need instructions for dialing in please contact rsidebottom@sc.arts.gov.

US Secretary of Education Talks about Community Schools

A great link from Renee Kuhlman at the National Trust for Historic Preservation:


Thanks to American Architectural Foundation for featuring this clip on their website!

Recently, Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, was on the Charlie Rose Show promoting the administration's priorities for education and spoke at length about the concept of schools as centers of community. AAF's Great Schools by Design program has explored this topic for several years. AAF believes that for a school to serve as a resource for a community, it must be designed with that in mind. Whether a renovation or new construction, the design will reflect the unique opportunities and challenges faced by the community it serves.

http://www.archfoundation.org/aaf/aaf/Science-Education.htm#top

Stock School Plans Not Working in Wyoming

As a first post on the new blog I wanted to send this article along about one state that had adopted prototype or stock plans for their schools. Some have suggested that such a program would cut down on the cost of building school facilities. Here is one state that has adopted this approach and is now turning back.

http://www.trib.com/articles/2007/11/20/news/casper/21751240538de4ee87257398008175e8.txt

Richard