| dc.description.abstract | School safety has been a hot topic for the nation for decades, and it seems to be getting worse every year. This causes parents to feel the need to keep their students at home to keep them safe. However, can a floor plan or certain materials be used in schools to increase safety but not hinder student's education or the efficiency of foot traffic through the halls? Can the building itself work with the local law enforcement to effectively manage an emergency or disarm an active shooter with minimal injuries? With the use of softwares and the help with multiple school districts and local police departments, a school, such as an elementary school, can be designed to help keep students and staff safe during an emergency while still be a productive learning environment.
As Fargo grows, schools that may have been built a century ago just cannot hold enough students to accommodate the growth and can’t keep up with the times to create an efficient learning environment. The Fargo Public School District is having the discussion of rebuilding the current Horace Mann Elementary School, built in 1915, and constructing a school that can hold more students, K – 5th. Doing this would provide not only a higher capacity but also the opportunity to update the classrooms to give the students a productive learning environment, and most importantly, more safety measures can be added.
For instance, the new school can have sensors on every door that notifies the office and administration when an exit door is open, and is open for an extended period of time, there can be more efficient cameras throughout the school so if a door is open, they can clearly see why that is at any given time, and there can be a minimal amount of doors that can actually be used to enter the building. By adding these safety measures, and more, the school can take the necessary preventive steps to keep their students safe yet still provide a comfortable and effective environment to give them the best chance of having a bright future. | en_US |
