Contact: Karie Patton
An Internet site developed by a Mississippi State University research center is giving some Jackson parents, educators and students a chance to be part of designing a new elementary school from the ground up.
Constantly updated, the McWillie School Project selection at http://www.edi.msstate.edu provides an easy method to comment on design guidelines created by the Jackson Public Schools and MSU for the McWillie School, a North Jackson elementary school to be built on a road of the same name.
MSU's Educational Design Institute is leading the project, which will propose voluntary guidelines for features ranging from water fountain placement to size of classrooms.
"Our objective is to show a complete case study from initial design ideas all the way through to the school's occupancy," said EDI director Jeff Lackney. "To my knowledge, that has never been done."
An Internet site like the McWillie project also is a first, he added.
Created in 1998, the EDI is a joint effort of the MSU School of Architecture and College of Education to promote the development of safe, accessible, learner-centered environments. It works in collaboration with students, parents, teachers, administrators, school boards, and community residents.
A committee of parents, administrators, teachers and community members was selected to help JPS and the research center create voluntary design guidelines for both the new elementary school and the state.
Lackney said state educators and architects would help determine the contents of the guide, which will cover design standards that help optimize learning.
"Buildings often have been viewed as a backdrop for learning, but research shows that the physical setting has a profound effect on the quality and the process of learning," Lackney said. "Since Mississippi public schools have no official design guide, we are creating one that we hope will raise the standards of design and education across the board."
Power Point presentations from the committee's four workshops will be linked to the site, as will conclusions and results from each workshop. Lackney said he is hopeful that links can be added to provide additional information about the learning process.
"Eventually, I think all persons involved will be participating in an ongoing dialogue and we will be able to make faster, richer decisions because of it," he said. "People can reflect on this information on their own time, not when they are forced into a room together, and we will gain valuable input from outside sources as well."
Lackney said he also hopes to offer a professional development course before McWillie opens to help teachers realize the building's maximum potential as a learning facility.
"Usually, a building is designed and then left to the client to figure out how it works, or why it's not working," he said. "The web site can help teachers and parents to see how this building came about and they will be able to gain a sense of ownership or shared vision in its purpose."
Lackney said he anticipates assisting other school districts in designing models of their own in the future.
For more information on the McWillie Project or the Educational Design Institute, telephone (662) 325-1850.