create smaller schools:
put the emphasis on the student not the building
All school districts should consider disposing of school properties until plans for smaller schools are finalized. Construction cannot lead instruction. The trend toward building larger school buildings has been determined by architects, not educators. Large construction does not provide real economies of scale. Dollars that are saved by constructing large school buildings are almost immediately lost through additional staffing for administration, security, and the academic and social failure that is often the result of the isolation and impersonal atmosphere brought on by large schools. Appropriate capital funding must be controlled and must remain consistently directed toward the construction of smaller school buildings. Notably, the recent trend toward creating smaller schools within schools is a step in the right direction.
Students are alienated and anonymous in large schools, they are lost in a detached setting where very few adults, if any, know their name. A sense of ownership or belonging is not fostered in a school of 1,000 or more students. At these institutions, students do not know their own classmates, and teachers do not know their own students. Appropriate sized schools and the pupils within them are more likely to become key elements of their neighborhoods and communities. Parents, employers, and other stakeholders can become players in the school's support network, providing tangible contributions and visible models and mentors for students.
Where possible, smaller schools should be designed and constructed across the country.
Students are alienated and anonymous in large schools, they are lost in a detached setting where very few adults, if any, know their name. A sense of ownership or belonging is not fostered in a school of 1,000 or more students. At these institutions, students do not know their own classmates, and teachers do not know their own students. Appropriate sized schools and the pupils within them are more likely to become key elements of their neighborhoods and communities. Parents, employers, and other stakeholders can become players in the school's support network, providing tangible contributions and visible models and mentors for students.
Where possible, smaller schools should be designed and constructed across the country.