The Little Red School House of Tomorrow

ARCHITECTS, EDUCATORS TO DISCUSS INNOVATIVE LEARNING DESIGNS 

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Oct. 11 -- Taking the little red
school house into the 21st century: that's the focus of the first
Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational Design symposium at the
University of Virginia. 
	Educators, architects, school administrators and students
will convene from 9 a.m. to 12 noon on Friday, Oct. 18, during a
"From the Little Red School House to the Lawn and Beyond: How
Educational Mission is Translated into Architectural Design"
symposium. Five presentations, many of which will have drawings and
photographs, will illustrate how architecture can be used as an
effective medium for enhancing teaching and learning. The
presentations will be in Jury Rooms C and D in Campbell Hall.
	Peter Waldman, chair of the architecture department, and his
design students will present models and large-scale drawings that
will show how an abandoned incinerator in the Georgetown area of
Washington, D.C., could be transformed into a magnet school.
Offering a prototype of the classroom of the future, Waldman and the
16 students will offer designs that "transform educational
philosophy into architectural form," according to Dan Duke, director
of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational Design. 
	"The symposium will provoke discussions of imaginative and
creative learning opportunities," said Duke, who heads the center
that helps educators design schools and environments that foster the
acquisition of knowledge in climates of mutual respect. The center
was established by the Board of Visitors in June.
	Using the environment around schools as a learning
laboratory will be the focus of another presentation during the
symposium, hosted by the School of Architecture. Nancy Takahashi, a
lecturer in landscape architecture who investigates how school
grounds can foster learning beyond school walls, will describe such
possibilities as plantings to serve as arboretums or butterfly
habitats.
	Robert Vickery, an architect who has won awards for his
school designs, will talk about how schools can reflect community
values. In addition, Robert Moje, a principal in VMDO Architects of
Charlottesville, will describe the need for small high schools as he
shows his designs for Manassas Park High School.
###
October 10, 1996
	REPORTERS:  A schedule is enclosed. For more information,
contact the Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational Design at (804)
982-2866.  Television reporters should call our TV News Office at
(804) 924-7550.