SCHOOL SECURITY

SCHOOL SECURITY

Ø INTRODUCTION

School security is on everyone's mind recently, however there is a lot of to security than metal detectors and alternative hardware. If your district is building new colleges or renovating previous ones, bear in mind that sensible faculty designing and design — alongside integrated technology — enhance building security and facilitate forestall the sort of violence that has been creating headlines.

Architect Academy Award Newman, author of defendable Space: Crime hindrance Through Urban style, argues that when groups of people come together, they automatically have a beneficial impact on each other because they become, in effect, each other's supervision. It is healthy to possess inbuilt supervising in an exceedingly public place, Newman says. Rather than isolated buildings during a residential neighborhood, for instance, it is better to have many doorways and windows looking out. This has the effect of many people monitoring each other all the time. Inside and out

Working closely with the big apple town Board of Education and therefore the big apple town faculty Construction Authority, Gruzen Samton used these ideas in developing a example style for elementary schools settled on tightly strained sites in an exceedingly sort of urban neighborhoods. The paradigm relies on a system of study parts consisting of standard room clusters. Each module consists of 4 L-shaped lecture rooms that area unit sorted around widened areas within the corridors. These passageway nodes are given a range of glazed openings into the adjacent lecture rooms, thus allowing teachers to keep an eye on the activities in the corridor or "street." Linking these modules consecutive provides the fascinating straight lines of sight; the articulated corridors lend a spacial richness to mitigate against a sterile institutional setting.

Ø Inside and out

Working closely with the New York City Board of Education and the New York City School Construction Authority, Gruzen Samton employed these concepts in developing a prototype design for elementary schools located on tightly constrained sites in a variety of urban neighborhoods. The prototype is based on a system of architectural components consisting of modular classroom clusters. Each module consists of four L-shaped classrooms that are grouped around widened areas in the corridors. These corridor nodes have been provided with a variety of glazed openings into the adjacent classrooms, thus allowing teachers to keep an eye on the activities in the corridor or "street." Linking these modules sequentially provides the desirable straight lines of sight; the articulated corridors lend a spatial richness to mitigate against a sterile institutional environment.

Ø Open to the public

Should colleges be designed as public areas for the community at large? There square measure security issues on either aspect of this issue. Making a faculty quite simply an academic facility that closes at three p.m. is a method to create it safer for college kids, many designers say. A school that's thought-about a civic building and valued by adults throughout the community is seen during a special method and treated that way--as a hall or police building or court. For example, graffiti is rarely found on buildings that are valued and central to a community. Scheduled activities within the evenings and on weekends signal that the varsity could be a community facility. And keeping the varsity open once mid-afternoon creates a security internet for those students UN agency opt to keep later. If the varsity could be a perpetually active place, children won't be isolated

Ø Movement and scale

Other security issues embody control and college size. Stuyvesant high school, located in New York City's Battery Park City, includes a 10-story classroom wing that was revolutionary when it was designed in 1988. A major useful drawback was a way to enable large numbers of scholars to maneuver quickly through the building between categories. Gruzen Samton, in association with Cooper Oscar Robertson, resolved this issue by providing stacked escalator banks that connect 2 floors at a time. The advantage of this arrangement is that there's constant activity and vision on every floor and more room, that reduces state of affairs and shove. Advice for planners

         I.            There is no single formula for planning safe colleges, though some principles apply in several instances. First and foremost, the designer has got to be knowledgeable the coed body and therefore the wants of the community.

       II.            "Architects, and school administrators who work with architects must realize that design comes second, and functionality comes first," says Howard Koenig, superintendent of the 6,271-student Central Islip district. Koenig has many items of recommendation for architects and faculty directors for coming up with safe schools:

     III.            Shorter corridors on a sq. building set up create the building easier to secure via clear lines of sight. With a sq. plan, 2 employee’s members will see the complete building at anybody time. With a circular set up, it would take five or six hallway personnel to secure the school. Central Islip's high school was built in the 1960s with a circular central wing with curved corridors surrounding the auditorium. The school is tough to secure as a result of the corridors have constant blind spots. The room additions at Central Islip were designed to supply clear lines of sight.

    IV.            Schools should be planned with sufficient locker space so students can put their coats or other outdoor wear away when they arrive. No student ought to ever wear outside gear within the lecture rooms or alternative tutorial areas. In addition, students ought to perceive that lockers area unit faculty property, and as such, are on loan and are subject to inspection at any time.

      V.            Internal and external TV monitors ought to be put in in colleges. At the Central Islip faculties, all major assembly areas--cafeteria, hallways, auditorium, parking lots — have closed-circuit cameras constantly monitoring activity. In addition, a uniformed patrol force is on constant watch at the schools and on school grounds.