Building for Learning
Five new schools being rebuilt with funds from a 2007 bond measure will turn 20th century classrooms into 21st century workspaces and have direct impacts on student learning and achievement.
There are five key ways the new building designs will enhance student learning, said Josh Garcia, Federal Way's Executive Director of Teaching for Learning. New buildings will improve safety, improve health, engage students in a variety of ways, challenge students and support students.
The new schools are designed to embrace the natural features of their landscape. Fewer exterior entrances to the new buildings will enhance security. New schools also have more visibility into the buildings and classrooms with liberal use of glass and windows. Open spaces improve students’ sense of safety when walking between classes - they won't be navigating through thick crowds in narrow hallways. Bathrooms will be closer to classrooms in the new buildings so students won't have to walk all the way down a long hallway. Students who feel safe and secure in their schools will be better learners.
Our schools are being built according to Washington High Performance Standards for Green Schools. Healthy students are also better learners. Federal Way's new schools will lend themselves to better students' and staff health with more natural light, open spaces and improved ventilation and air quality. Studies show that healthy indoor environments lead to improvements in children’s learning and behavior. Federal Way students spend approximately eight hours each day in our schools. Improved air quality can reduce asthma and upper respiratory infections among school children and staff while improving achievement. According to the nonprofit Project Green Schools, asthma is the leading cause of school absenteeism due to chronic illness and a leading occupational disease of custodians and teachers. Federal Way’s green schools will have noticeable impacts on student and staff health and learning.
Federal Way's new schools will engage students in a variety of ways. Spaces in the new schools are flexible and adaptable. Classrooms are designed to encourage group work and the integration of technology while providing a dynamic, interactive environment. Buildings will support technology by providing wireless internet access so computers can be placed wherever needed. This is important for designing and supporting flexible student groupings and meeting the learning needs of each child. New schools will also provide higher capacity fiber optic cabling and conduits to run wires through cleanly. The conduits will allow faster and more efficient future technology upgrades.
Students will be challenged in the new schools as the flexible and adaptable design does not prohibit program development. Fluid schools with expandable walls will provide workspaces that can adjust to rapidly changing needs in 21st century education. "You can't design it only for the people that are in the building now you have to design it for people that could be in the building in the future," Garcia said. "Every time you put a wall up you're limiting the use of that space." Federal Way school buildings are typically used for 50 years. The needs for use of space could change several times during that period and Federal Way’s new schools are prepared.
Students will be supported in the new schools. Each school is designed with areas for one-on-one, small group or large group instruction. Small learning alcoves will eliminate the need for students to work in the hallway with small groups or one-on-one with their teacher or tutor. New furniture will support teamwork with tables and chairs in many classrooms instead of individual desks in rows. New schools feature ample areas for students and teachers to display their work, which makes students feel honored, encouraged and more at home, Garcia said.
Federal Way Public Schools is building new schools that will teach 21st century skills, improve health and safety and engage, challenge and support students. The new construction is possible because voters agreed to fund the rebuilding of five schools and several district facilities with a construction bond measure in 2007. All of the new schools and district facilities will be open by 2013.
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