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Our Foundation is funding community engagement initiatives in Cincinnati and Dayton to help these school districts design not just effective, but remarkable, schools that will contribute to the success of their communities. In collaboration with our partners, we create tools, research, and publications to facilitate community conversation and assist in planning innovative schools in Ohio and across the country.
Based on best practices of community engagement initiatives across the country, and our own experience consulting with school facilities, our School Facilities initiative has outlined three areas of action to ensure that a public school is built to the highest community and learning standards, and is not only financially supported, but utilized, by both community members and students: Action Area 1: Support community engagement in school facilities and design.
Result: Ohio school districts will plan and design their new buildings in collaboration with their stakeholders: parents, teachers, students, community members, community organizations, and municipal governments: - Learn how to engage communities through the 10 Principles of Authentic Community Engagement that guide communities in designing a school that serves community members, solves community problems, and secures long-term community support.
Action Area 2: Encourage school districts and communities to research and reflect.
Effective learning environments, smart growth, and economic development should all be considered prior to school facilities renovation and construction.
Result: Participants involved in school facilities planning and design will utilize current research and best practices in their decision-making processes and apply principles of smart growth and economic development. (Learn more about how to investigate effective learning environments, meet 21st century demands, and ensure smart growth in Research and Reflection.) Action Area 3: Promote the development of schools that are centers of community.
Result: School facilities planning will generate schools that are centers of community. Schools that are centers of community operate as multipurpose facilities for the benefit of the entire community. (Learn more about promoting Schools as Centers of Community.)
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