CNU explores school solutions in Charlotte

Strong population growth in and around Charlotte is stretching the ability of school districts to accommodate waves of students. “Neighborhoods in this region are growing so fast that new schools are over capacity before construction has even started,” says architect Tom Low, director of the Duany Plater-Zyberk office in Charlotte and one of the leaders of the group forming a Carolinas chapter of the CNU. With school design and school policy growing as important issues there, CNU played a leading role in a couple September events that provided good ideas and valuable civic leadership.
One of the most intriguing of these ideas — high-quality, reasonably priced learning “cottages” to serve as alternatives to the trailer classrooms that show up in fast-growing areas such as Charlotte — was previewed at a September 12th workshop and dinner organized by Low and other members of the local grassroots group Civic by Design.  Low told about 100 Charlotte residents how well-designed Katrina Cottages proved themselves a far preferable form of emergency housing than FEMA trailers in hurricane-hit Gulf states – and how the same thinking can be applied to school districts in Charlotte and beyond that rely on modified construction trailers in coping with burgeoning class rolls.

Katrina cottage for schools
The “Katrina inspired learning cottage” would help districts respond quickly to the urgent need for classroom space while offering a quality of space that compares favorably to that of many permanent schools. Whereas a permanent school building typically costs between $150 and $200 per square foot or more, a learning cottage could be created for not much more than the $50-per-square-foot cost of a school trailer. Low and fellow Charlotte architect Kevin Sutton are exploring the idea of organizing these well-designed buildings in an urban campus replete with courtyards, gardens and potential outdoor classroom space. As a next step, Low and Sutton are developing plans for a model learning cottage campus on a very visible downtown Charlotte lot provided by the Levine family, owners of the Family Dollar discount store chain.
Co-organized by CNU student member Monica Carney, the Civic by Design schools forum also featured small working groups of urban designers, teachers, school administrators, and parents discussing schools as parts of the community, places for learning and architectural structures. And the ultimate consumers of schools, children, had their say as well through an interactive project called Box City that asked them to assemble model houses, schools and other buildings into neighborhoods as they’d like them to be structured. “It’s really a fabulous tool,” says Low of the Box City kits provided by the St. Louis-based Center for the Built Environment. “It’s something the kids will remember because I don’t think they have a chance to think three-dimensionally about the places where they spend their days.”
The next day, former Charlotte mayor and former CNU board member Harvey Gantt moderated a related symposium on school design and school policy hosted by the Charlotte chapter of the American Institute of Architects. CNU President John Norquist joined a panel and told an audience of about 200 architects, developers, and school board members that North Carolina had moved in the right direction by turning large-lot school sitting mandates into guidelines, but that even guidelines too often get followed as if they are rules.  “Guidelines that say high schools should be on at least 20 acres are anti-urban,” Norquist told the group.  “Some of the best schools in the world are on less then an acre.”  
Norquist also talked about how the American system of having people choose schools by choosing school districts in which to reside separates the poor from the rich and has a profound affect on the real estate market. Although Charlotte has a consolidated countywide school district, developers reported that the desire to access better public schools was a force driving families to live in outlying counties.
The two days of events ended with a promising reception for CNU members and prospective members interested in forming the Carolinas chapter. “John Norquist gave an inspiring speech about why people should be involved with CNU and what a chapter could mean for the Carolinas,” recalls Low.