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Schools Are Rethinking Classroom Design to Encourage Collaboration, Creativity

June 22, 2019

By: Brenda Iasevoli

Source: Hechinger Report

There are no walls between the seven classrooms on the third floor of the Medical Academy for Science and Technology, a former hospital that houses a magnet high school for would-be doctors, nurses, physical therapists and pharmacists.

On a recent morning, the students in Isha Brown’s literature class were huddled in groups, analyzing the symbolism in “A Streetcar Named Desire.” At the other end of the basketball-court-size room, far enough to be out of earshot, students from another class took turns reciting speeches. A boy stood in front of a whiteboard in a corner, rehearsing his presentation on family planning. And on leather couches in the middle of the room, a cluster of students in scrubs chatted quietly, their IDs dangling from lanyards.

The space, upgraded in the 2015-2016 school year, is continuously changing. The seats in eye-catching blue, purple or orange might be lined up in neat rows, or rearranged in a circle for face-to-face discussion. All the furniture is fitted with wheels.

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