New programs for technology are cutting into space needed for kids. The average U.S. school is 42 years old, typically built in the post-World War II years when births peaked at 4 million annually. Today, in the midst of a baby boomlet, a record 52 million children are attending 88,223 schools. Many buildings are simply too old. They used inferior materials.
New looks are in.
Cookie-cutter classrooms, weedy playgrounds and concrete block walls painted in industrial drab colors are being traded for natural lighting, wood trim, terrazzo floors and brick courtyards. You have full-size rec centers instead of gyms. Libraries are kind of passe. Everyone has a media center now. School administrators, faced with increasing educational needs, are bringing in professional architects to help meet them.