Innovative thinking is the theme of charter schools, but Pamela Harwood says it takes more than the typical classroom design for students to get the full benefit of education at charter schools. Harwood says a school's facilities should mimic its distinctive approach to learning.

“They have no funding for facilities,” Harwood says. “We’re trying to meet the innovative curriculum with innovative designs.”

Harwood, an architecture faculty member, and a team of Ball State students spent the fall of 2007 working with 12 charter schools in Indiana and as far away as Colorado. The students from a variety of majors completed case studies of best practices as well as profiling charter schools locally to develop patterns and guidelines for the facility planning and educational development of charter schools.

Matthew Van Soest, MS ’10 architecture, was involved with the project for two years and was the group leader during the case study investigation. Van Soest says the immersive project helped him land an internship at Ancon, a design/build firm in Goshen, Indiana.

“The immersive learning opportunity at Ball State, the information that I gained, and countless hours of research not only benefited me, but will benefit Ancon,” he says, noting that he plans to work there after graduation.

Harwood says the group focuses on every aspect of design, which includes how the classrooms should be arranged, the lighting, and what type of furniture is best for a learning environment.

The group also focused on building safety and best use of space.

“We explored certain things like could they use this land and add an elementary school?” she says. “I think we kind of help them envision longer term ideas.”

The team members were Building Better Communities Fellows. Harwood interviewed each of the students to make sure they were a good fit for the project.

“I was particularly looking for students in architecture, business, education, and communication majors,” she says. “Having students who were teachers, sociologists, etc., allowed us to more fully and wholly make the decisions that needed to be made.”

Van Soest says he enjoyed collaborating with peers outside of his major, and the project helped develop his concentration and interests.

“I felt the information and research that I gained would be invaluable,” he says. “It was amazing to see the different avenues of information and research brought to the table each week, and translated into a useful manual.”

The research the team collected is featured in the book, Charter Schools: Patterns of Innovation.