Page 15 - School Planning & Management, July/August 2019
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FACILITIES \{ LEARNING SPACES \}
PHOTO © ANTOINE SMITH / ADS PHOTOGRAPHY FOR THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND
Harnessing the Potential of Outdoor Spaces
Enlisting students in your design plan and working alongside nature can result in outdoor spaces that are recreational, educational and engaging in ways you might not expect.
By Scott Berman
TWO OUTDOOR SPACES in New Jersey and Arizona, at dramatically disparate schools and locales, have something in common: Each is a laudable example of ways to envision, design and equip outdoor spaces that support students and meet educational goals.
Additionally, the schools, Sussex Avenue Renew School, a K–8
institution with roughly 450 students in urban Newark, NJ, and the Western Maricopa Education Center (West-MEC) Southwest Cam- pus career and technical education school, shared by high school and community college students in Buckeye, AZ, offer thought-pro- voking ideas for districts considering ways to harness the potential of outdoor spaces.
JULY/AUGUST 2019 / SCHOOL PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 15
