Instructional Leader's Observations

Do not print and mail this form.  Complete online and submit to VSBA

Deadline for this form to reach VSBA - October 8, 2007.  See OVERVIEW and CRITERIA Below

Name of School: 

School Division   

Name: Principal/Instructional Leader 

Comments:  (limit of 1,000 words)

Overview:  your facility has been entered in the VSBA Annual Exhibition of School Architecture held in conjunction with the VSBA Annual Convention, November 14-16. Now that the instructional program has begun in your facility, the Architectural Review panel would like feedback as to whether the purposes of the building have been achieved. Using the criteria listed below, please submit your observations (no more than two pages) to the VSBA office (Virginia School Boards Association, 2320 Hunters Way, Charlottesville, VA. 22911  office: 434-295-8722  fax:  434-295-8785) and/or contact Barbara Coyle, VSBA Deputy Executive Director at coyle@vsba.org.  Your observations will be shared with the Panel as they review projects. The goal of the Panel is to improve the contribution that design can make to the teaching/learning process and share that information with school board members and superintendents. 

Criteria:  The following general themes (and definitions) will be used by the Review Panel in analyzing each entry. Please feel free to add other factors considered significant to the design.

Learning Ambience
  • Use of colors, light, and space to facilitate learning.
  • Control of environmental factors such as indoor air quality, temperature, and acoustics to optimize the learning environment.
  • Allowing educators and students to personalize the learning environment through displays of student's work.
  • Infusing Instructional technology throughout the building.
  • Using the building as a teaching tool.

Educational Community

  • Creating space for collaboration among teachers, students, and/or community members.

Multi-Functionality

  • Designing spaces to easily serve more than one purpose at various times during the school day.
  • Transformation of spaces to different uses is easily accomplished.
  • Designing spaces that can be converted to serve different purposes as programs change over the years without major capital expense.

 

 

Sustainable Design
  • Committed to comfortable, health, and energy-efficient learning environments.
  • Minimizing the school's impact on local, regional and global ecosystems.
  • Utilizing high performance building strategies to impact learning.
  • Minimize costs associated with operations and maintenance over the life of the building.

Civic Presence

  • Imparting a sense of gravity to and importance about the educational mission.
  • Inspiring respect and awe.
  • The design demonstrates a commitment to creating comfortable, healthy, and energy-efficient learning environments.

Subtle Security

  • Emphasizing unobstrusive security measures.
  • Facilitating easy supervision via transparent environments.
  • Not simply relying on technology.