Aug 2007 Editor's Letter
By: Jill Pinheiro

School construction is big business. To be precise, it's a $30 billion business, according to the American Architectural Foundation.

Here is a case in point, just within our own pages. Each month, we focus on a different Christian school construction project, whether it's a renovation, addition, or from-scratch undertaking. We have profiled eight schools so far in 2007, and, between them, they spent nearly $64 million on their latest school construction projects.

A recent report on school design by the American Architectural Foundation (AAF) and KnowledgeWorks Foundation provides recommendations to help designers and educators make good decisions with regard to that $30 billion spent annually on new or renovated school facilities.

"Schools in the 21st century should feature more diverse learning environments, greater technology and be more integrated with their communities," according to the Report from the National Summit on School Design.

"We have moved beyond the one-size fits all approach to school design to an age of greater innovation and flexibility tailored to meet the needs of individual students, schools and communities," said Ronald E. Bogle, president and chief executive officer of the American Architectural Foundation. "The successful schools of the future need to apply the research on how students learn and how the quality of our educational facilities affects student performance, health, safety, self-esteem and well-being."

I think the tailored trend is evident even within the projects we have covered this year. For example, our March profiled school, Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic School, was designed as a true community school and includes a gymnatorium for community functions. Additionally, the school also features a flexible learning environment that can accommodate group instruction or support interaction between students of different ages.

I truly hope you're discovering great ideas and benefiting from the experiences of fellow Christian schools within these monthly case studies. You can view all of the past projects within the magazine's archives on our Web site, www.cspmag.com .

I'm always interested in hearing from you. You can reach me at jill@cspmag.com .

God Bless,

Jill Pinheiro
Managing Editor