School Buildings: Safety, Learning, Environmentally Friendly, and Sells the School

Finishing our third year as a school/business means banks and other money lending institutions will at least consider allowing us to borrow money to purchase land and build classes. It also helps to have a count of 202 students and a waiting list beginning for one of our classes. Buildings are tools, expensive and time consuming. But for our future families, buildings serve four important functions in the service of this educational community: the safety of all who walk the campus, instructional integrity, environmentally supportive, and pleasant to the eye.

Many, many years ago a very heavy contributor to a large church's building campaign said to me, " Buildings need just four walls, a roof, and to be built as cheaply as possible. Anything more is just feeding a pastor's ego." While that may or may not be true, at Bios Christian Academy buildings are here to serve us as we serve our families.

Safety is much more than well constructed buildings with approved NPPS playgrounds. It involves campus walkways which have potentially many adult eyes observing student and visitor actions, teacher and student accountability both in behavior and learning, and limited campus access throughout the day and evenings. The idea of safety also involves keeping students on campus for all school athletic offerings which reduces the inherent risks in driving to different off-site locations for practices and home games. Without a well thought out, secure and safe campus, learning would be difficult.

I am able to honestly say that of the few and far between complaints I hear, the most prevalent is that the materials, learning expectations, and teachers set a very high bar for learning and behavior. That's not such a bad complaint. Current and future buildings are designed to support those expectations at Bios. Future classrooms of 600 s.f. for primary and kindergarten, 750 s.f. for elementary, and 900-1200 s.f. in the Middle Academy and the Senior Academy will allow plenty of room for students to move and learn. Courtyards will be designed for the primary and elementary houses ( groups of classes ) to be built in order to support their communities and outdoor classroom experiences which take advantage of the amazing Gilbert weather. Both outdoor areas will include a reading amphitheater and science tables with sinks. Middle Academy (7-9) and Senior Academy (10-12) houses will be held in two separate buildings. Both will include space for common meetings, abundant natural light provided through skylights, and larger space for science labs.

An architect told me that to be a "green" building it would add about 3% to the total building costs. That is a lot of money. With always limited funds, some potential improvements towards going green would be: a forest of shade trees for keeping the campus and Gilbert cooler, a white concrete parking lot (concrete reflects 25-35% of the sunlight compared to the 5% reflection of asphalt.), inside classroom use of zero-VOL (volatile organic compound) paints, wood chips instead of gravel for landscaping (cooler and if you need more than that, it saves water, better for the soil, and increases the earthworm population), and individual room air conditioners which have high energy efficiency ratings. Other and even more expensive possibilities include the use of recycled water for landscaping and more energy efficient buildings along the design of the Meritage homes in Gilbert. The long term effects of environmentally friendly building practices, both financially and for the children's health, not to mention the benefits to our community, are invaluable.

Last and maybe least is the curb appeal both to our present families and to possible future Tigers. Many a comment on the last school we designed with Bardusen Architects, Surrey Garden Christian, came from moms and students on how happy they were with the physical beauty of the school. A well cared for and attractive site reflects well on an academy that takes such good care of it's buildings potentially caring for its students with the similar care and attention. All for His glory!