School modernization and new construction can be an integral part of community revitalization. The examples described here are projects that have been developed as part of a wider community revitialization effort.
Revitalizing school buildings as centers of community requires shared vision and shared leadership. In some communities, school planning is proceeding in a cooperative and shared planning process and vision that examines and considers the educational and other community needs. Although school districts are usually autonomous bodies, there are significant benefits to planning for and designing school facilities within the larger municipal planning framework with maximum joint planning and/or provisions for shared use. The school building as well as the activities that take place in it and on the school site during and after school hours are important components of community development or redevelopment and can also have an economic impact in the community.
This innovative practice area is under development.
Innovative Examples
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Center for Innovative School Facilities -- Oregon[ abstract]
The Center for Innovative School Facilities assist Orgeon School districts in developing public and private school partnerships, facility and real estate services, resources, education, and asset managemnet.
Stapleton is the nation’s largest infill development. It is located in Denver, Colorado on the former site of the Denver Municipal Airport. The former airport site, which is 4,700 acres, is being transformed into a new mixed use development. Sixty percent of the site will be developed for urban and commercial use and forty percent will be dedicated to create parks, open space and recreational opportunities. To attract residents the developers plan to open eight new neighborhood schools at the Stapleton site. Partnership between Forest City developers and the Denver Public School System has allowed for innovative funding for the new schools at the Stapleton site.
Thurgood Marshall Academy -- District of Columbia[ abstract]
A mainstreet development project to revitalize an abandoned closed public school and support a new small academic public high school.
This was an innovative partnership among community advocates, the private sector and a public charter school in the District of Columbia. Working together they restored and reopened the Nichols school building to accommodate the Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School through a public/private partnership.
Now widely recognized as a model for success, TMA stands as a symbol of academic excellence by combining a rigorous, standards-based, law-related curriculum with comprehensive, specialized programs and services to meet its students’ needs. Essentially, TMA functions both as a school and as a nonprofit youth development organization.
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