Case Studies K-12 Education

Overseeing grounds and maintenance at a small Texas school district had its moments for Michael Rasmussen. There was always something to keep him humble and committed. “Places like that, you’ve got to learn a lot about everything,” he tells Blueprint in early January. “How to run a wastewater plant, how to drive a school bus, […]

It’s a typical morning in town. Offices, banks and stores bustle as people go to work and run errands. Whether it’s buying flooring, applying for a loan, or shipping a package, it’s all getting done inside a Junior Achievement Discovery Center—and the workers and shoppers are all middle schoolers. Designed to immersive them in the […]

The goal of Vertex Education is to “change lives through education ”—and Director of Facilities and Construction Craig Dunlop is working hard to ensure the organization’s schools and its students are equipped for that vision. To that end, Dunlop is building and maintaining facilities as part of a two-pronged endeavor. It involves improving cleanliness and […]

Up until the day Mark Lockard closed out his career in school facilities and construction management, he was still learning. That’s because there’s a lot to know, he says. In a school design and construction career spanning more than 20 years, he’s seen changes and advancements in technology used to save—and even produce and recoup—energy […]

While Chris Freund’s title at Rockwood School District may be director of facilities now, it’s not the one he started with. He was previously the district’s grounds services coordinator. Before that, grounds services supervisor, and before that, grounds services employee. Prior to holding any of those titles, though, he held one much more common in […]

Working in a growing school district that’s expected to spend $500 million on capital projects in the next five years, Eric Gardner is drawing on decades of public and private sector engineering experience to ensure Williamson County Schools meet the demands of increasing enrollments. The district, located south of Nashville, serves a county whose population […]

Although she’s not a teacher, Alexis Baker impacts students every day. As the director of facilities at Manheim Central School District, she says she considers their experience in every project. Whether with large undertakings, like renovating the high school, or smaller ones, such as creating a pollinator garden at the middle school, Baker tries to […]

Damian Viltz’s first week of the 2017-18 school year at Fort Bend Independent School District began with a career-defining challenge—and an ominous omen. On the Monday before school opened, FBISD’s new executive director of facilities and operations witnessed a full solar eclipse—an eerie sight, he recalls. The next day, students started the school year as […]

When John Crompton led a lunch and learn session with students at The Winsor  School, he wasn’t sure if they’d be interested. He knew the science behind concrete would probably bore a group of students and expected to look into the audience and see yawns and glazed-over eyes. Instead, he saw a sea of raised […]

Scott Zellmer doesn’t like to waste space. But, with gymnasiums, theaters and event halls, schools often have large areas that are only used some of the time. The director of facilities and operations at Weber School District is working on creative ways to address this. With a few new schools being built in the district, […]