Case Studies K-12 Education

When Logan Hodges first joined the asset management group at Dewberry, she saw much more than equipment lifecycles and capital plans. She saw an opportunity to give community institutions something they rarely had enough of: clarity. In the K-12 space, especially, administrators often know their buildings are aging, their systems are overloaded, and their budgets […]

From its beginning in 2007 with just 87 fifth and sixth-graders, Foundation Academies in Trenton, New Jersey, has grown into one of the state’s most successful charter organizations. Today, more than 1,100 K-12 scholars learn across three schools on two campuses, supported by a close-knit staff committed to academic excellence and character-driven education. But the school’s growth […]

For Grand Rapids Public Schools, facilities are more than brick and mortar—they’re the foundation of equitable, high-quality education. Overseeing this transformation is Dale Cammenga, Director of Planning, Design, Construction, and Renovations. With four decades of experience in the design and construction industries, he leads the district’s ambitious facilities strategy anchored by the $305 million “Reimagine […]

For more than four decades, Jon Papps has lived and breathed construction. From his early days managing large commercial and industrial projects to his current role as senior project manager at LS3P Associates, Papps has navigated nearly every corner of the built environment. His career path reflects a rare blend of hands-on construction management, deep […]

For Melanie Brown, summer isn’t a season of rest. It’s a season of movement—bulldozers, blueprints, and back-to-back construction meetings. As Director of Buildings and Grounds for Naperville Community Unit School District 203 in Illinois, she spends the warmer months overseeing projects that touch every corner of the district’s 23 schools and 16,000-plus students. “Summer is […]

As director of facilities and construction at The Winsor School, John Crompton understands that true excellence in education requires more than brilliant faculty and rigorous academics—it demands an environment that supports, sustains, and inspires. For more than a decade, Crompton has helped shape that environment across Winsor’s Boston campus, elevating the school’s physical infrastructure while […]

Glenn Miller’s path to leading the facilities and grounds department at Morris School District in New Jersey is anything but conventional. Before he was managing 87 staff members and 10 school campuses, he was deep under the sea—serving aboard the USS Simon Bolivar as a submariner in the U.S. Navy. That chapter of his life, […]

In the world of school construction and modernization, success isn’t just measured by square footage or budget spreadsheets—it’s measured by trust. For Will Karrat, executive director of construction services at the Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD), rebuilding trust has been the cornerstone of his work since he assumed the role just over two and […]

Education is more than just a classroom endeavor in Huntington Beach, California, where the surf meets suburbia. It’s a community-wide commitment to cultivating well-rounded students and preparing them for a world in constant change. The Huntington Beach City School District (HBCSD) is at the heart of that effort, which serves nearly 4,700 students across six […]

As director of facilities for the Green Bay Area Public School District (GBAPS), Luanne O’Leary has made it her mission to ensure that every child steps into a learning environment that is safe, warm, and clean but also inspiring and equitable. This responsibility is no small feat in a district that serves more than 17,000 […]