Magnet and Specialized Schools of the Future: A Focus on Change

The five volumes in the Schools of the Future set are uniquely valuable, comprehensive resources for all the stakeholders involved in a public school construction project, whether a new building, addition, or renovation. Each of these books-The Elementary School of the Future, The Middle School of the Future, The High School of the Future, Magnet and Specialized Schools of the Future and the forthcoming The Community College of the Future-brings together essential information on every stage of the process of creating a new public educational facility. Unlike other books on school design, which are geared toward architects and engineers, the Schools of the Future books have been created especially for boards of education, school building committees, district superintendents, and other decision makers, offering them essential guidance on: ensuring that schools built today serve tomorrow's educational needs, using technological advances to control burgeoning square-footages, accommodating community groups and other after-hours users of school facilities, mounting effective campaigns to pass school-bond referenda, planning, designing, and managing school construction projects collaboratively. This volume features case studies of recent exemplary magnet and specialized school construction projects, and provides a detailed educational specification that's genuinely future-oriented. Sustained attention is given to numerous issues influencing contemporary public school design including: the need to protect indoor environmental quality, the mandate to accommodate special-needs students, the desirability of sustainable design, the need for good acoustical design, and many other topics. Additional features for this book: provides guidance on both developing an interdistrict and intradistrict magnet school, assists districts in writing grants to sustain the program over time when district shortfalls may reduce funding, presents selected schools from throughout the country tha