SANTA MONICA-MALIBU UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
PRESS
RELEASE | |
|
Contact: Superintendent’s
Office 310-450-8338,
ext. 241 |
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE January
12, 2006 |
On Jan. 28, the Santa
Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) hosts the Convening, a public
meeting featuring national and regional experts in school planning who will
share their experiences.
The Convening is
scheduled for 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Delfina Hotel, 530 West
Pico Blvd., Santa Monica. Lunch and childcare will be provided, along with free
parking in the north lot of Santa Monica High School at 7th and
Olympic, near the technology building.
Call 310-450-8338, Ext 100 to reserve childcare.
The
Convening's goal is to "grow a learning community" as the district launches
public meetings to gather community input for its 20-year strategy to improve
district educational facilities. As a result of the Convening, the district will
form a citizens' group of at least 100 Malibu and Santa Monica citizens to
participate in detailed planning of schools.
Each of
the experts will present a brief case study on community school planning and
will be available for small group
discussions.
The Convening speakers include:
Jacqueline Buhn, a founder of Athenian Properties, a Philadelphia-based real
estate services company active in community planning; Doreen Nelson, a pioneer
in the field of design thinking in education; and Deborah McKoy, director and
founder of the UC Berkeley Center for Cities and Schools as well Steven Bingler
and Bobbie Hill, the principals of Concordia
LLC.
The Jan. 28 Convening is the first community
meeting in the district's Facilities Master Planning Process. The SMMUSD
selected Harley Ellis Devereaux of Los Angeles (HED), Concordia LLC of New
Orleans and Sidewalk Studio of Los Angeles to prepare its Facilities Master Plan
under the direction of Assistant Superintendent Winston Braham. Dr. John Deasy, the district
superintendent, describes the Facilities Master Plan as "an important new plan
for the improvement, maintenance and long-range development of our school
facilities."
The HED team, under the leadership of Tania van
Herle and John Dale, will serve as Executive Architects and Engineers and
conduct the facilities assessment, examining and evaluating the physical
properties. HED has one of the largest K-12 school design architectural
practices in Southern California.
At the same
time, Concordia will manage community outreach and act as Consulting Architects
and Community Planners. The internationally known firm is led by Steven Bingler,
a noted expert in educational facility planning and Bobbie Hill, who focuses on
community outreach for school planning.
Sidewalk Studio, a
local communication and marketing firm, is led by Gary Drucker and Rebecca
Newman. Sidewalk will create the project's introductory video, develop a project
website and publish regular newsletters throughout the duration of the
Facilities Master Plan project.
For further
information, see the project website, www.ourschoolplan.com <http://www.ourschoolplan.com/>
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