Fielding Partner, Jay Litman, AIA: Reimagining Green School Design in the Wake of COVID-19

Green Schools Catalyst Quarterly

The Path Forward

Why Whole School Sustainability Matters in a COVID-19 World

SPECIAL ISSUE September 2020

Reimagining Green School Design in the Wake of COVID-19 Jay J. Litman, AIA

Photo: Melisa Figueroa

For the vast majority of schoolchildren, the world as they knew it ended in the early weeks of March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closing of schools around the globe and strict “Shelter in Place” policies started to be enforced. On April 2, 2020, NPR reported that “right now students are out of school in 185 countries. According to UNESCO, that is roughly 9 out of 10 schoolchildren worldwide” (Kamenetz, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic exposed a vital truth about schools; that is, children learn best when interacting with other children. They need the social interaction of friends to grow and thrive 32 | Green Schools Catalyst Quarterly

(Garibaldi and Josias, 2015). Children also need the physical presence of teachers for guidance and mentoring. The COVID-19 school closures have also shown us how vital brick-and-mortar schools are to children’s well-being. They have made us aware of how the design of a learning space can impact a child’s educational growth. Most schools in every country use some form of the “Cell and Bells” layout introduced by Horace Mann in the 1840s. This was translated in the 20th century to a series of 700 – 900 squarefoot classrooms lined up along a network of interconnected corridors, a layout we are all familiar

Photo: Marissa Moss Photography Students collaborate on a project in one of the new learning spaces at Eden Park Elementary

with from childhood. This antiquated school design model, still in use today, lacks the flexibility that is needed to practice alternative teaching and learning methods, not to mention the ability to reconfigure classroom spaces to comply with physical distancing needed to minimize COVID-19 infection rates. As we plan to reopen schools, we find ourselves at a historic crossroads in the struggle to reform the traditional school model. We can no longer hide from what we can plainly see. As I stated in a recent webinar, “The jig is up. The ‘Cells’ have exploded. The ‘Bells’ have been broken. We now need to reimagine school design and the pedagogies

employed within it. There cannot be a new normal, which refers to devising a new status quo. But one thing is for sure; we cannot return to the old normal either. That set of design patterns has failed us. We will return, but to what” (Litman, 2020)? The COVID-19 pandemic presents a real moment of reflection for educators and designers of learning spaces worldwide. From our global network of school clients, friends, and colleagues, we at Fielding International have compared notes and lessons learned and found we are all facing the same challenges. This is not just a worldwide pandemic; this is a global crisis for the future of education and a SPECIAL ISSUE September 2020 | 33

Photo: Fielding International

technological equity, is a resilient and flexible place in which to learn, and is fully accessible to all. These are qualities my colleagues and I at Fielding International hold dear to our hearts in our aim to create learning environments that support every child, enabling them to thrive. Over the last 40+ years, I have worked on more than 120 schools in many countries. In that time, I have come to realize that sustainability, equity, access, and resiliency are tightly bound together. Their values overlap, and each quality depends on the other.

Photo: Marissa Moss Photography

Eden Park Elementary School – Before the Pathfinder Project

Eden Park Elementary School – After the Pathfinder Project

I have also broadened my perspective on what “sustainability” in school design really means. There is much more to the concept than just ecological sustainability. Buildings should undoubtedly be energy efficient, well-insulated, and even approach net-zero status. True sustainability, however, has many facets. To create a supportive, nurturing environment where children can heal and thrive, we need to consider all aspects of sustainability in a tightly integrated educational ecosystem. This includes addressing both longstanding (e.g., classroom overcrowding, designing healthier learning environments) and emerging (e.g., greater technological and space flexibility) issues that have become critically important due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To do this effectively, we must embrace a whole school, whole student approach to sustainability in new school design. Such an approach addresses:

defining moment for where we might go! How can we learn from what we are witnessing and compare the best and worst things to have occurred in this crisis? What should be discarded and what should be replaced? As educator Alexis Gwin-Miller recently stated, “We need inspiration, not replication” (GwinMiller, 2020).

• Social/Emotional Sustainability – School should be a place where students want to congregate and interact. Therefore, we need to incorporate more socially adept and nurturing learning spaces in schools to support the development of social and emotional intelligence. Examples of these spaces include small group rooms for quiet discussion, learning booths with access to the Internet, collaborative write-on walls, and “campfire” presentation spaces.

Clearly, the future of education lies in returning to better designed physical schools and not cyberspace. To that end, we must reimagine “school” as a physical place that is sustainable on multiple levels, promotes and supports sociological and

• Educational Sustainability – We need to eliminate the antiquated singular classrooms of yesteryear for new learning communities composed of flexible, multi-use spaces of varying sizes with a centralized Learning Commons. The

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Credit: Fielding International

Credit: Fielding International

adjacencies of these spaces from one to the other, and their visual connectedness, support a wide range of learning styles and studentcentered activities. Students should have the agency to choose the right space for their work and learning style. Teachers can easily shift from one lesson to another, and both students and teachers should feel ownership over their shared Learning Community. • Technological Sustainability – The design of new school spaces, and the renovation of existing spaces, should be guided by an integrated approach to information and communication technology. This encompasses multi-modal lighting, multimedia presentation, acoustical design standards that promote speech intelligibility, audio-lift systems, and telecoil loops for the hard of hearing, all integrated into supportive and engaging interior design. • Equity and Access – The April NPR article points out that “amid the coronavirus shutdown, many children in the United States cannot access distance learning because they lack computers and reliable Internet access. Some children are struggling to participate because they have a learning disability” (Kamenetz, 2020). Remote learning also tends to leave behind English as a Second Language Learners, students who cannot afford laptops and Internet connections, students with ADD/ADHD, and anyone who is not neurotypical. Educationally sustainable schools provide the varied learning styles and spaces and technological supports that meet every child’s needs. • Physical Sustainability – School districts need to stop shopping at the Dollar Store for the least expensive systems and materials. Schools must be built to last using a selection of institutionalgrade materials and methods, with building materials coming from sustainable sources. Schools should also be designed to function as living textbooks or teaching tools that educators can use to show students how various building design components and systems work and support their learning environment. 36 | Green Schools Catalyst Quarterly

• Professional Sustainability – A program of capacity building and professional support services for professionals and teachers who work in and use the school building is essential. The success of this kind of school transformation comes from integrating the “Hardware” (facility design) with the “Educational Software” (pedagogy reinforced by teacher training and coaching). Eden Park: Reimaging What a Green School Can Be The vision presented in this article is not just a fanciful theory. It is based on 15 years of hard work by my colleagues and I to reinvent how we design schools. It has become an emerging international movement in education reform. How should a school like this look? How does it address the new raft of health and safety concerns in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic? Our latest Pathfinder project at Eden Park Elementary School in Cranston, Rhode Island comes to mind. Eden Park is a Pathfinder in every way for us and Cranston Public Schools (CPS). CPS is an averagesized public school district of 22 schools that serve an economically and ethnically diverse population. Despite the advanced age of many schools in the district, CPS leadership is committed to providing learning spaces that are not just warm, safe, and dry but healthy, sustainable, and more student-centered. The Eden Park project entailed a total transformation of this 12,000-square-foot, 68-year-old, K-5 elementary school, including a new main entry and renovated west wing. We demolished everything back to the original structural frame and then rebuilt from the ground up. Our team designed a new exterior envelope with a highly insulated rain screen system that uses a sustainable fiber cement panel cladding. All windows are triple glazed and operable. The mechanical systems are designed to deliver dedicated outdoor air to each space with a dedicated fan coil for each room. The HVAC system is controlled by a building management system that enables preand post-purge occupancy of indoor air. Many of these features are recommended by a joint U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency/Energy Star task force on preventing the spread of COVID-19 in schools. The adoption of the Learning Community model at Eden Park allows for more flexibility and variety in day-to-day learning activities. The old corridor was absorbed into the Learning Commons, an agile space that supports multiple ways of learning and multiple groups of learners. The Commons allows for a more diffuse distribution of students and collaborative work areas. Transparency between Learning Studios and the Commons facilitates interdisciplinary learning activities. Every learning space is outfitted with a state-of-the-art educational technology package with smart screens, high-quality sound amplification systems, including audio lift, and assistive technologies that support equity and access for all students and teachers.

Eden Park meets or exceeds the Northeast Collaborative for High Performance Schools standard for public schools built in New England and has become a prototype for reimagining “green schools” in Rhode Island. There are valuable lessons to be learned from Eden Park, lessons that can be applied at schools across the U.S. to create school buildings that are not just sustainable, but flexible, accessible, equitable, and resilient. We stand at a pivotal juncture in education. Going forward, the health, well-being, and design of learning spaces must play a foundational role in developing healthy learning environments that are guided by sustainable strategies that address the broad spectrum of ecological, energy, educational, health, and social issues we face. Let’s commit to create more schools like Eden Park that support sustainability at every level and exemplify a new vision of the future.

Works Cited Garibaldi, M. and Josias, L. (2015). Designing schools to support socialization processes of students. Procedia Manufacturing, 3, 1587-1594. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2015.07.446 Gwin-Miller, A. (2020). From gathering to transformation [Webinar series]. Fielding International. Kamenetz, A. (2020). 9 out of 10 children are out of school worldwide. What now? NPR. Retrieved from: https://www.npr. org/2020/04/02/824964864/nine-out-of-10-of-the-world-s-children-are-out-of-school-what-now Litman, J. (2020). From gathering to transformation [Webinar series]. Fielding International.

Jay J. Litman, AIA (jay@fieldingintl.com) is a Partner with Fielding International (FI) and Studio Director and Principal of the FI/Rhode Island Studio. His 40+ years of professional experience is focused primarily on the planning and design of preK-12 educational facilities, university facilities, and public libraries; institutional master planning; and the rehabilitation of historic structures. Jay has worked nationally and internationally with schools in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. He has also spoken before many school organizations, including the Association for the Advancement of International Education and the Association for Learning Environments, and internationally in Russia and Indonesia.

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