ABSTRACT: 
Los Angeles Unified School District has undertaken a major effort to upgrade, improve and transform its existing school sites. Following the completion of the new school construction program and the opening of 131 new schools, the District turned its attention to its more than 500 existing school sites. The average age of District schools, even including the new schools, is over 50 years old. The District’s current bond program, the School Upgrade Program has the following goals:

• Schools Should be Physically Safe and Secure
• School Building Systems Should be Sound and Efficient
• School Facilities Should Align with Instructional Requirements and Vision

With these goals in mind, a data collection and prioritization effort led to the identification of 11 school sites with the greatest facilities needs in March of 2015 for the development of comprehensive modernization projects. A second group of 11 school sites was identified in December of 2016. These 22 projects represent an investment of approximately $3.4 billion, and include the following scope:

• Retrofit or replacement of approximately 100 buildings requiring seismic upgrades
• Renovation of nearly 70 buildings of historic significance
• Removal of approximately 280 relocatable buildings
• Construction of approximately 680 new classrooms

The District developed a set of core principles to utilize in developing the project scopes, with safety and physical conditions as the primary drivers. Each school brought its specific and unique facility needs, educational program and community culture and presented challenges to the project teams. The District worked with the school sites and project teams to develop solutions that were appropriate to each school site while maintaining a consistent approach to structural analysis, programming and implementation of District design standards.   A District representative and three of the architects supporting this effort will tell the story of the Comprehensive Modernization program from assessment and prioritization, through scoping and programming, to design and construction. Examples from first group of projects will be shared, including Venice High School, Jefferson High School, North Hollywood High School and Polytechnic High School. Additional examples will be presented from earlier precursor projects, Crenshaw High School and Foshay Learning Center, as well as an early look at the challenges and opportunities of the second group of projects, including Taft High School, Kennedy High School, and Lincoln High School.  The Comprehensive Modernization projects, ranging in budget from $70M to over $200M bring much needed upgrades, improvements and new buildings to each campus and provide a multitude of transformational opportunities, including:

• Removal of relocatable buildings allowed most campuses to recapture additional outdoor space for learning and physical activity, so precious in our urban campuses.
• Replacement of aging and underutilized shop buildings at several high schools made way for new CTE facilities, to meet the educational needs of the current programs.
• At several schools, the replacement of inadequate and aging gymnasiums with updated facilities to support health, well-being and school activities.
• At several schools, the replacement or renovation of visual and performing arts spaces, including art, music, dance and drama classrooms and performance spaces
• Incorporation of appropriate special education learning spaces integrated into the campus.
• Improvements to campus accessibility allowing access for all learners.
• And overall, an improvement to the quality of learning environments.

The panel will share lessons learned from their effort, many of which are being incorporated into the development of the second group of 11 projects. Along the way, the project teams have had the opportunity to develop exciting designs that respond to the educational vision of each school and reflect the richness of the District’s diverse communities and history.

SPEAKERS: 
Julia Hawkinson, AIA, ALEP, LEED AP BD+C, O+M, WELL AP, Senior Facilities Development Manager, Los Angeles Unified School District;

Michael Pinto, AIA, Design Principal, NAC Architecture;

Jorge de la Cal, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Principal, CO Architects

OBJ #1  Participants will learn how to develop a prioritization process based on District goals.

OBJ #2  Participants will understand how to utilize core principles to guide a scoping, planning and design process to allow for a consistent approach in the development of projects with diverse needs.

OBJ #3  Participants will be able to identify how to leverage site, scope and programmatic constraints on an existing campus to create design opportunities and transform schools.

OBJ #4  Participants will learn how to enhance a school’s identity and support its educational vision through an investment in facilities.

ABSTRACT: 
For over 30 years, the Orangewood Foundation has provided innovative services for abused and neglected children and at-risk families to end the cycle of child abuse one life at a time.  The Samueli Academy is a pivotal part of this mission.  The result of an extensive planning process was a Master Plan for 480 students with a 115,000 SF academic downtown focused on project-based learning featuring a student union, innovation and health center intertwined with studios, labs and collaborative learning commons.  Creating a strong School community, with joint-use and industry partnerships was part of the educational mission for the school, most importantly providing a place to belong for these at-risk students.

SPEAKERS: 
Lindsay Hayward, Project Designer, LPA, Inc.;

Anthony Saba, Executive Director, Samueli Academy;

Fred Wallitsch, Project Executive, Snyder Langston

OBJ #1  Recognize how social-emotional learning can be influenced by physical space.

OBJ #2  Discover how an intense planning process including a large committee of stakeholders and local business leaders can result in a successful project.

OBJ #3  Learn how the spatial environment can be transparent and welcoming while also extremely durable, cost-effective, and long-lasting.

OBJ #4  Become familiar with educational psychology of at-risk students and how to best support a strong school community and social climate.

ABSTRACT: 
In the 1990’s the Anaheim City School District faced unprecedented challenges.  They had grown from 7000 students to over 21,000 and hadn’t built any new schools.  A complex storm of political and regulatory issues had prohibited the normal solutions.  This workshop covers the reformation journey of this urban school district.  This is a story of change: governmental, political, physical, instructional, business, and community change told through case studies by the personnel who made it happen.  (Tours of some of the studied site will be available during conference tours.)

SPEAKERS: 
Lettie Boggs, CEO, Colbi Technologies; Michael Krause, Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services, Anaheim Elementary School District;

Lynn Merrick, Owner,

OBJ #1  Workshop participants will experience the journey of AESD’s historical transformation through valiant efforts of persuasion and perseverance by sticking to a code of ethics

OBJ #2  Participants will have a chance to learn how to re-envision site design and building transformation can positively impact a student’s ability to learn and fell safe in their surroundings

OBJ #3  Participants will learn that no crisis is ever over until all options have been explored and you work towards the YES – learn to ask the right questions

OBJ #4  Participants will have the chance to connect the WHY with the HOW and WHAT through case study and story form and then experience the transformation through site visits

ABSTRACT: 
“It’s so important to raise a generation of young people who have a relationship with nature, because then they will want to protect it.” Laurel Chor, Conservationist and National Geographic Explorer. Increasingly, individuals and communities are becoming aware of the relationship between quality of life and environmental literacy. Research has shown the importance of introducing children to nature and land stewardship at an early age, especially under-served, inner city children with less opportunities to access natural settings. Following a pedagogy of culturally relevant and responsive teaching, LAUSD’s Office of Outdoor and Environmental Education offers students real world field studies at their outdoor education centers. High academic rigor, excellent instructional practice and a deliberately executed human relations and team building curriculum lead to expected the outcome: creating an emotional connection to learning and the outdoors. In partnership with community-based organizations, such as the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, the Office of Outdoor and Environmental Education increased student participation in outdoor education programs from 4,800 to 18,700 in the last 5 years. The goal of the program is to provide every LAUSD fourth and fifth grader the opportunity to experience quality, natural world-based science at no cost to schools or families.   Enhancing the outdoor environment has long been the practice of Landscape Architecture firm AHBE. Their practice explores the latest challenges and opportunities in implementing drought tolerant and native plants in high pedestrian areas such as school campuses.  We will cover resiliency, maintenance and operations, and promoting healthy plant growth. We’ll look at the challenges faced by facility maintenance staff and administrators on the paradigm shift to native and drought-tolerant planting from historical ornamental planting.  We will discuss how we can make our schools more resilient for future generations by instilling the value of water conservation throughout the school district; from the district office administrators to the maintenance gardener.   We will present examples from our projects– Playa Vista Elementary, Jordan High School and Mount San Antonio College– on the impact of how design maintenance operations affect the long-term success on the planting design and how it can be improved through education and better communication.

SPEAKERS: 
Gary Lai, RLA, ASLA, LEED AP BD+C, Principal, AHBE Landscape Architects;

Gerardo Salazar, Outdoor and Environmental Education Administrator, Los Angeles Unified School District;

Leona Ketterl, AIA, ALEP, LEED AP BD+C, Senior Design Manager, LAUSD

OBJ #1  Participants will learn strategies to utilize nature in culturally relevant and responsive teaching pedagogues.

OBJ #2  Using two Outdoor Education Center programs as case study examples, participants will identify inclusive education strategies to encourage positive attitudes toward science and to foster communication and collaboration skills.

OBJ #3  Participants will explore various methods to employ, and educate users on how to care for, native and drought resistant plants in their landscape designs.

OBJ #4  Participants will examine techniques of incorporating sustainability into school site design and the importance of instilling students with the value of water conservation.

ABSTRACT: 
This session will present the overarching experience of the 30 students from the 6th grade Dual Immersion Program at Gardiner Middle.  Currently the Dual Immersion Program at Gardiner consists of 50% non native Spanish speakers and 50% native Spanish speakers. This 6th grade group has 49 total students, but only 30 students participated due to the AVID elective..  The students range from low socioeconomic to medium socioeconomic, low academic levels in math and reading – to high academic levels, including 3 TAG students.       The students competed in a SchoolsNext design competition and supported the Oregon City School District Design Committee through a new build of Gardiner Middle School.  It will contain a more in-depth look at the project, will examine some of the specific features that engaged the students, increased school pride, and created sustainable projects for the future.

SPEAKERS: 
Keely Rock, Gardiner Middle School, 6th grade Dual Immersion Teacher, Oregon City School District;

Michael Sweeten, Principal, Oregon City School District;

OBJ #1  Describe the process the students went through

OBJ #2  Analyze how the process and design of school facilities and campuses can impact community involvement and educational outcomes.

OBJ #3  Identify features and components of school facilities that contribute to student engagement and build community pride.

OBJ #4  Summarize design and program concepts of sustainable education facilities that build community resilience.

ABSTRACT: 
Learn how managing facility total cost of ownership (TCO) can positively impact society.  Preserving funds for education, preserving resources, saving energy, reducing carbon footprints, reducing landfill impact and facility equality are a few ways TCO management can benefit society.  Case studies with proven results will be provided.  Attendees will learn how to build an Excel template to manage TCO.

SPEAKERS: 
Monte Hunter, Principal, Parkhill Smith & Cooper

OBJ #1  Components of TCO.

OBJ #2  Estimating TCO on a regional basis.

OBJ #3  Preserving resources and education funding with TCO management

OBJ #4  Improving facility equity with TCO.

ABSTRACT: 
A growing body of research is clarifying the relationship between built educational environments and student success.  Responsive design professionals are using this data to develop educational facilities better suited to support the health, well-being and cognitive performance of students at all levels.  Innovations in teaching strategies and a growing adoption of student-centered pedagogies have generated new space typologies and organizational models, challenging conventional school design and recalibrating our understanding of successful design.  Yet the correlation between design and student success is incremental at best, and causality is nearly impossible to isolate.  On the other hand, there is a single factor that has historically and consistently been demonstrated as determinative in student success: faculty and staff stability.  Generations of studies have noted the strong correlations between positive student outcomes and high levels of teacher support, low rates of faculty turn-over, positive community engagement and effective mentoring.  Teachers regularly survey among the most purpose-driven and mission-dedicated professionals in the workforce.  Yet they also report among the least respected and most stressed.  Beyond the academy, our commercial workplaces are being redefined by increased attention on the needs and desires of young and capricious generations, steeped in technology, globalism and commoditized social media.  If educational environments were to respond to these forces the way the commercial workplace has, what would be the impact on teacher recruitment and retention?  Is that, ultimately, the key to consistently positive student outcomes?    This session will present a survey of contemporary workplace expectations and assess the state of educational facility design against those expectations.  The discussion will address individual teacher’s health and wellness, and the impact that building conditions have both physically and emotionally.  We will also address the unique characteristics of Professional Learning Communities and how facilities can best support collaborative team models and peer mentoring.  We will explore the premise that an enhanced workplace for faculty and staff is the most direct route to positive student outcomes.

SPEAKERS: 
Brian Donnelly, AIA LEED AP, Associate Principal, Perkins Eastman;

OBJ #1  Identify the environmental conditions in the commercial workplace that contribute to emotional well-being and employee satisfaction.

OBJ #2  Develop evidence-based design criteria to support faculty and staff wellness in educational facilities.

OBJ #3  Describe the critical relationship between faculty stability and student success.

OBJ #4  Evaluate design strategies to support effective faculty collaboration and mentoring.

ABSTRACT: 
As the density in cities grows, so do the needs for civic facilities that serve the population throughout the year.  Restrictive sites, needs for year round community spaces, and city’s need to create a cohesive and identifiable urban center.  This session will explore how in Renton, Washington (just outside Seattle) the new downtown Sartori Elementary School is serving as a new prototype for school campuses to support high-density development, eliminating the need for a larger project site. In addition, the vertical design creates more open space available to students and the surrounding community for recreational use.  It is located in a designated Regional Growth Center, that will collaboratively serve 650 students, combining a community based elementary school with a magnet STEM program.  Through a highly collaborative process the functions on the site, and within the facility step in the right direction toward achieving the city’s vision, so that the city center and downtown become “a cohesive, identifiable urban center where people live, work, learn, play and visit.”

SPEAKERS: 
Rebecca Baibak, AIA, NCARB, REFP, LEED AP, Principal, Integrus Architecture;

Matthew Feldmeyer, R.A., Capital Projects Manager, Renton School District;

Brianne Tomlin, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, Senior Associate, Integrus Architecture

OBJ #1  Understand how a city’s growth plan are symbiotic with development of an urban school.

OBJ #2  Explore the varying considerations, challenging the status quo, in elementary school design to better support collaborative use of spaces as the lines between a community center and elementary school blur.

OBJ #3  Explore how schools and communities can create stronger ties through experiential learning curriculum.

OBJ #4  Develop critical analysis through the evaluation of a real world example where the opportunities and challenges in bringing forward innovative ideas in site design, curriculum, and shared use overlap.

ABSTRACT: 
In airports, heading off small and large security threats while easing the experience for tens of thousands of passengers in a complex environment, aviation designers are charged with leading the continual evolution of public safety. Passengers demand seamless measures that don’t further intrude on the stressful travel experience. Similarly, schools face a growing responsibility to address heightened security issues while providing solutions that are all but invisible and preserve a welcoming, nurturing campus community. Corgan’s Education studio have partnered with the designers of the nation’s busiest airports in compiling best practices / future trends that can be expected and implemented in school setting. Design considerations will prioritize the mental, physical and emotional health of the occupants, providing security without compromising the educational environment.

SPEAKERS: 

John Mares, AIA RIBA LEED AP BD+C DBIA CASp
Associate Principal, Los Angeles Studio Leader
Corgan Aviation

Beverly Fornof
Senior Associate, Project Manager
Corgan Education

OBJ #1  Discuss what schools can learn from airport security design.

OBJ #2  Explore ways to incorporate seamless, unobtrusive security design measures, prioritizing the mental, physical and emotional health of the occupants

OBJ #3  Hear testimonials from various aviation and education clients on their challenges and ideas for the future of security implementation.

OBJ #4  Come away with a set of tools and discussion strategies to bring to the table during the visioning and design of educational facilities.

ABSTRACT: 
Traditional learning environments are leaving students and teachers disengaged from the learning process. Washington Elementary an underperforming, Title 1 elementary school nestled at the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains, 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles was no exception to this trend. When Alan Pantanini walked onto the campus as the newly appointed Principal, he encountered a disengaged campus community and severely outdated campus facilities. Determined to transform his school into a beacon of hope, that offers Next Gen learning spaces to its community, Alan teamed with local architect Jay Tittle, AIA in an inspiring journey of transformation.     From the outset, experience had told them that utilizing a traditional design approach to campus transformation would not automatically result in academic success. They identified that creating an Immersive Learning space with flexible furniture and technology to deliver Project Based Learning would require an approach that incorporated teacher training and coaching that would lead to a shift in instructional mindset and knit together the physical environment with instructional delivery allowing for learning to take place anywhere.     Achieving this transformation required a two-fold approach of:
1.    the physical space
2.    support of the new indoor learning environments to ensure successful outcomes

The physical transformation of the windowless box building started with pulling inspiration from the surrounding neighborhood and bringing it to into the building’s interior. Additionally, the need to replace interior walls of the original campus buildings with new acoustically sound walls provided the opportunity to reconfigure the buildings to accomplish key Next Gen Learning elements, such as:

• Visual transparency
• Classrooms that utilize flexible furniture allowing for multiple learning modalities to take place
• Collaborative pull-out spaces for small group work
• Formal presentation areas for students to share and interact
• Maker Spaces that provide special project areas that are interactive and engaging
• A Learning Commons that supports learning, research and socialization

The second approach was achieved through engaging Page Dettman, Ph.D with MeTEOR Minds Consulting to lead special teacher training on how to best utilize these new Next Gen Learning Environments for student success. This approach ensured that students are provided with the skills, tools, and resources to support college and career readiness.    We hope you will join us to learn how effective leadership, purpose, vision, and dedicated professionals transformed the culture, climate and learning environment of a low performing elementary school into a beacon of possibilities that provides students 21st-century opportunities. Today, students engage in flexible learning environments with 1:1 technology tools, and resources that promote and address individual instructional needs. Teachers facilitate blended learning opportunities that integrate common core instructional standards with STEM, Robotics, Coding, Multi-media production, and Inquiry-based learning in maker-spaces to develop technologically literate learners.     This workshop will include lessons learned from teachers and their coaches on delivering education differently, along with first hand accounts from 5th grade Washington Elementary students on their perspectives of the before, during and after the campus transformation. This will give participants and understanding of the impact this approach has had on academic outcomes and community engagement.

SPEAKERS: 
Alan Pantanini, Elementary Principal, Pomona Unified School District;

Page Dettmann, Ph.D, Chief Learning Evangelist, MeTEOR Educaiton;

Jay Tittle, AIA, Schools Studio Principal, Little

OBJ #1  Develop an approach to pedagogical transformation, in a condensed timeline, through a guided learning demonstration that was utilized in the Washington ES transformation.

OBJ #2   Gain understanding of new approaches to learning via a brief hands-on activity.

OBJ #3  At the end of this workshop participants will be able to adapt WELL building approaches to an interior transformation project using the story and outcomes of Washington Elementary school as an example.

OBJ #4  Understand best practices in training teachers in embracing new instructional techniques for flexible classrooms.