Call to Action:

1. Move Forward with Purpose: Embrace the imperative of change by aligning community, resilience, and innovation in your learning environments.
2. Immediate, Pragmatic Steps: Assess & Align: Develop and conduct a rapid audit of your current learning spaces, teaching methods, or institutional priorities through the lens of a school’s vision for learning in the future. Identify as a community one key shift to implement aligned to your data to reinforce real needs and avoid political polarity.
3. Center on Community Engagement: Gather input from students, families, and educators to redefine your priorities and share the results of this work in a public forum.
4. “Pathfind” for Innovation: Implement a small-scale, low-risk initiative, such as a redesigned classroom setup, an AI-supported planning tool, or a well-being check-in system, to prototype new ideas and build excitement for future change.

Abstract: Explore how engagement-driven design is reshaping teaching and learning for a post-COVID, AI-empowered era at Gladstone Elementary in Cranston, RI. In this session, building principals Amy and Amy, alongside a dedicated interdisciplinary team of designers, will share their journey of engaging students, families, and educators to support a bold, inclusive vision for the future of learning. This project highlights how authentic, long-term engagement and innovative design—ranging from AI-supported planning tools connected with reimagined learning spaces to student-led art and furniture design projects—have fostered a strong foundation for improving learning outcomes in an increasingly complex education climate. Presenters will share how these efforts are driving academic success, engaging teachers in new practices, and embedding a legacy of collaboration and inclusion in every corner of the school, all driven by the catalyst and commitment to building a “New Gladstone.”

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn ways to implement critical future-ready design elements in the face of opposition to change: Recognize the value of continuous support and long-term investment in nurturing a school’s evolving needs and successes.
2. Align Professional Learning with Facility Design: Learn how a thoughtful plan for long-term professional development that integrates with physical space transformation creates a foundation for success.
3. Equip Educators with Practical Tools: Discover design and program strategies that empower educators to use flexibly designed spaces addressing increasingly complex demands and the diverse needs of today’s learners.
4. Explore ways to integrate facility features that are resilient to rapid evolution of teaching and learning practices. Understand the tension of Post-COVID School design needs with the digital and technological literacies required to succeed in the era of Co-Intelligence.