Schedule/Agenda

Site/entrance: The Symposium is at the Berry Center, 8877 Barker Cypress Road, Cypress, Texas. Attendees should use Entrance 2, which is closest to Parking Lots A & B. There will be signage inside the entrance to direct you to check-in.

8-8:30 am: Registration/Check-in/Hot Breakfast

8:30-9 am: Welcome/Introductions
Craig Schiller (CHPS Executive Director) and Roy Sprague (CFISD COO)

9-10 am: Keynote - Building a New Table: The Synergy of School Design, Health and Safety
Dr. Kayce Solari Williams (Board President, American School Health Association)
Session Summary: Schools are designed to serve as a place for development, exploration, and learning. Critical needs are typically prioritized and addressed to maximize academic outcomes. A primary component and facilitator of success is the built environment – the school building and ancillary resources on campus grounds. The built environment can serve as both a protective factor and a barrier to positive health and academic outcomes. Continuing historical practices of school design and construction and delivery of curriculum and other services will not always serve as a best practices approach for what is needed in a post-pandemic learning environment.  Input is necessary at every level and will require more than a few extra seats at the table. This keynote calls for building a new table.

10-10:15 am: Break

10:15-11:15 am: Session 1 - Design for Safe and Healthy Children
Patrick Davis (Perkins Eastman)
Session Summary: A research team at Perkins Eastman studied the factors that contribute to the safety and security of schools. The initial premise of the study is that students learn better and are more successful when they feel safe. The study gathered data and research from many sources to understand different aspects relating to child development, mental health, and well-being. In this session, the team will present over-arching themes recognized from this research, and discuss some of the unique perspectives provided from case study schools in rural, suburban, and urban locations.

11:15-11:45 am: Lunch

11:45 pm-1 pm: Keynote - Biophilia and Safe Schools
Bill Browning (Terrapin Bright Green) and Jim Determan (Craig Gaulden Davis)
Session Summary: Decades of research studies have proven biophilic design has produced significant user benefits; for example, shorter hospital stays for patients (Urlich study, 1984), improved cognition in children (Dadvand, et al, 2015) and restored attention (Lee, Williams, Sargent study , 2015). But biophilic design had never been assessed in learning space until recently. Craig Gaulden Davis Architects assembled a multi-disciplinary team of scientists, educators and designers in an AIA-funded study to determine the contribution of biophilic design to student stress reduction and academic performance in a 6th grade Math class at a Baltimore City charter school.

1-1:15 p.m. - Break

1:15-2:45 pm: Session 2 - Aligning Operations and Facility Design panel
Moderated by Ian Holmes (PBK)
Panel:
Chief Matthew Blakelock, Chief of Police, Conroe ISD
Chief Pedro Lopez, Chief of Police, Houston ISD
Mike Matranga, Trustee / Texas City ISD, U.S. Secret Service (Retired)
Chief Eric Mendez, Chief of Police, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD
Chief Marlon Runnells, Chief of Police, Klein ISD
Roy Sprague, Chief Operations Officer, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD
Session Summary: Experts in the field of school safety and security will respond to questions regarding the alignment of school operations with proposed safety and security “best practices”. Current safety & security implementations will be discussed for several Houston area school districts. The audience will be prompted for additional areas of inquiry and to provide a broader sharing of experiences on this topic. Panel discussion will be supported by Q&A and FAQ discussion sessions.

2:45-3 pm: Break

3-4 pm: Session 3 - Best Practices in High Performance and Security Design as Evidenced in CFISD
Andy Simpson and Laura Carroll (IBI Group)
Session Summary: This presentation will discuss how organizations, such as the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) address school safety and security and showcases how those strategies are utilized in Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District.

4-5 pm: Closing remarks, Q&A, Networking