Case Studies K-12 Education

Like most students, Andrew Hartnett couldn’t wait to graduate high school. He imagined that whatever awaited him in the “real world” would be more interesting than going to Brentwood High School every day. Little did he know, he’d find his way back there 15 years later, this time by choice. “Clamoring to come back” when […]

Paul Buckner isn’t a student, but he’s gone back to school. As the director of construction and energy management at Bryan Independent School District, Buckner is doing what he loves—reducing energy use and costs. He’s also discovering what goes into constructing school buildings, which is new for him. In learning more about construction, Buckner has […]

After 33 years working in the same industry, Ralph Knese had a choice to make. He figured he could stay in his comfortable, predictable job until he was ready to retire, or he could finish his career with a new, exciting challenge. He knows it’s a little unconventional, but he’s happy to have gone with […]

As the 2020-2021 academic year neared its conclusion at The Peck School, Mike Zulla could give his facilities department and himself more than passing grades. For it had been education as normal as much as practically possible at the prestigious K-8 school in Morristown, New Jersey. Most pupils were on campus from September through June, […]

There’s never a good time for a building to flood. The beginning of a global health pandemic is especially bad, though. In April 2020, this is the situation Lonnie Pilgrim faced when Fort McMurray Composite High School flooded with eight inches of water from a nearby river. As the school division’s director of buildings and […]

Robert Jones feels the impact of his work every day. While a construction crew builds the new Arrowhead Elementary School, students are eagerly watching next door. The school’s principal tells Jones that kids line the playground fence during recess as heavy machinery and people in hardhats dig holes and put up the new structure. Jones, […]

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools across the country shifted to remote and hybrid models of learning. While many districts invested in virtual infrastructure to help ease the transition (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, for example), others opted for a slightly different approach—investing in physical infrastructure in addition to the requisite tech upgrades. Case in […]

Kris Garnhart knows good looks doesn’t always mean lasting value. When installing new windows at a school, for instance, he needs to weigh his options. Does he go with the large floor-to-ceiling panes that designers want? Or does he go with smaller ones in a large grid frame? The second option might not be as […]

When Jim Sheeley was a student at Pulaski Central School District, he never thought about how the buildings were repaired and maintained. Now it’s all he thinks about. As the director of facilities at his alma mater, Sheeley knows the schools more intimately than some. After all, he spent 13 years walking their halls and […]

Usually when a school gets new lockers, it’s not that exciting. Students at Fort Wayne Community Schools, however, are ecstatic about theirs. That’s because they’re involved in the locker renovations, along with a host of other school upgrades, from design to completion. Darren Hess, director of facilities for the Indiana school district, and his team […]