Planning Rationale
The creation of a new school is an opportunity to develop a state of the art learning environment that exemplifies the district’s vision for student education, athletics, extracurricular activities. A new school may also include community resources such as a school based health center clinic or Community based organizations, entities and services. CPS, supported by the Department of Planning and Data Management (Demographics), evaluates the need for a new school often with the goal of providing capacity in a neighborhood or community area, offering a new school type, or a replacement facility to update the campus and/or to provide new or expanded programs. The following shall be considered when planning a new school:
- A new building is constructed to support a completely new population.
- A replacement facility, which is a new building for an existing school population. This allows for collaboration with the existing school from the onset of the project.
- An existing building, such as a leased or purchased facility, is renovated for a new population. This may require additional coordination with outside entities especially in the case of a leased facility.
Capital planning efforts include program development, site selection support and project budget development in order to ensure feasibility of a new school. The Capital Planning and Construction department is also responsible for coordinating with various departments starting with project planning, and continuing throughout the life of the project to ensure the appropriate program is developed and implemented. Led by the Department of Innovation and Incubation, (I&I) collaboration among various CPS departments is crucial to plan, design, build and coordinate building operations and services. I&I collaboration partners under the umbrella of Teaching & Learning including numerous departments that fall under this umbrella, such as but not limited to, Equity, Family & Community Engagement, Network Support, Office of Diverse Learners Supports and Services (ODLSS), Nutrition Support Services, Safety & Security, Information and Technology Services (ITS), Transportation, Access & Enrollment, Real Estate, etc.
Most important when developing a new school is school leadership and community engagement. In the case of a new school for a new population, leadership shall be engaged in the project once identified. School administrators will be a resource when identifying unique opportunities for incorporating cultural, artistic and community based elements and features.