EDspaces Sessions

Many adolescents today feel lonely, and school design is a powerful tool to change that. But which design choices actually foster belonging, and how do we know they work? This session shares results from a national survey of more than 500 adolescents asking how their school's physical environment shapes their sense of social connectedness. This first-of-its-kind study reveals what works, what doesn't, and why architectural research matters for creating schools where every student feels like they belong.

What if classroom design could improve student focus, and well-being? While daylight is often valued for energy savings and aesthetics, its impact on circadian health is frequently overlooked. This session explores how daylight, color, classroom configuration, and flexible furnishings work together to support student wellness and cognitive performance. Through research and practical examples, attendees will gain actionable strategies to optimize existing and new learning environments, creating healthier spaces that help students learn, engage, and thrive.

Educational environments do more than support instruction. They shape the relationships, interactions, and daily experiences that help students build confidence, communication skills, creativity, empathy, and a sense of belonging. Through intentional planning and design, schools can create spaces that support many forms of connection: between students, across age groups, between learners and adult guides, between students and nature, and between a school and its broader community. The session will highlight practical design strategies that help schools create environments where students feel seen, supported, and prepared to participate in the world beyond the classroom.

Designing for the future of learning begins with a deep understanding of the needs of our littlest learners as at the start of their educational journey. The experiences children have during early childhood - from birth to eight - establish the foundation for later learning and relationships. Outside of the home, the most time children have to establish this foundation is at daycare and school.  Both Montessori and the schools of Reggio Emilia refer to the environment as the "third teacher,” and in this session we will explore the ways in which intentional design can support learning in all domains and support student agency.  This session will provide actionable insights for designers, educators, and administrators looking to create spaces that inspire, support, and engage students from the very beginning of their learning experience.

This session reflects on the origins and evolution of "We Want a School!", a participatory design project developed with students during the 2020–2021 academic year. From the outset, the work was framed not as an activity or design exercise, but as a "provocation" in the Reggio Emilia sense, meant to open questions rather than produce predefined outcomes. Students were asked a simple question: what would your ideal school look like if you could imagine it freely? What emerged was not a set of design solutions, but recurring ideas about belonging, autonomy, care, and the everyday experience of school. 

See some of the best education environments in the Kansas City area: Angeline Washington Elementary School, Crestview Elementary School, and Heritage Middle School

Note: This is a ticketed event. You must be pre-registered.

See some of the best education environments in the Kansas City area: Northland Innovation Center, North Kansas City Schools Early Education, Professional Development, Technology Center. 

Note: This is a ticketed event. You must be pre-registered.

What if a career center could feel as aspirational as the futures it creates? Table Rock Career Center proves it can. Nestled into the Ozarks hillside, this facility was designed around one big idea — that every student deserves a bright, welcoming, and purposeful place to explore and learn a trade. See how thoughtful design, modest materials, and a commitment to continuous change created a space where career learning truly comes alive.

What happens when a community’s primary industry inspires its youngest learners? Texas City ISD and Exhibit Concepts share how a petrochemical-based economy was translated into an immersive Pre-K environment that is developmentally appropriate, instructionally aligned, and rooted in students’ lived experiences. Attendees will explore the full journey from vision to implementation, and learn practical strategies for turning community identity into engaging, flexible learning environments that support student engagement, teacher practice, and real-world relevance.

Every new tool, system, or space carries a cognitive cost. When that “Innovation Tax” exceeds educator capacity, the result isn’t resistance — it’s system failure. This session reframes human capacity as critical infrastructure and shows how physical design and digital workflows can either drain or defend it. Participants will learn to identify friction, reduce cognitive overload, and design environments that protect teacher capacity and improve long-term retention.

What happens when the true end users of a school — its students — help shape their learning environment? This session explores a highly interactive engagement process that transforms traditional programming into meaningful, ongoing collaboration. Through a case study of Grace James Academy, an all-girls middle/high school in Jefferson County Public Schools, Kentucky, participants will see how students worked alongside educators and designers to define priorities for collaboration, rigor, and adaptability — directly informing the evolving design.

Campus safety shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all approach. This session explores a “grey” approach — promoting wellbeing, supporting neurodiversity, and integrating physical safety so people feel secure, supported, and able to perform at their best. Using real-life examples spanning K-12, higher education, and healthcare, attendees will learn layered strategies — passive design, intuitive planning, and scalable systems — that support inclusivity, engagement, and outcomes, while addressing evolving threats in order to transform safety into a proactive asset.