What’s new
April 28, 2010 — Victoria Bergsagel served on the jury of School Building Week's School of the Future Competition in Washington, D.C., for the seventh year in a row. The annual competition challenges middle school teams to think creatively as they design tomorrow's green schools to enhance learning, conserve resources, be environmentally responsive and engage the surrounding community. The student contributions are truly amazing.
Click here for highlights from School Building Week.
April 7, 2010 — Victoria Bergsagel lectured at the Congress of New Urbanism in North Texas at their speakers series entitled, Our Kids in Crisis: The Connection Between School Design, Health and Performance. She spoke on the "Neurobiology of Learning." Watch Victoria's speech here:
April 7, 2010 — Victoria Bergsagel appeared on the National Public Radio program Think with Krys Boyd on KERA 90.1 FM. Listen to the podcast by clicking on the following link. (The recording should start playing on your computer's media player, but may take a moment to start.)
Victoria Bergsagel on KERA radio (podcast)
February 4, 2010 — Victoria Bergsagel spoke at a program entitled, The Relationship of Quality School Facilities to School Achievement, sponsored by California State University's Central Valley Educational Leadership Institute. Joined by Kathleen Moore, California Department of Education's Director of School Facilities Planning Division, Victoria gave a presentation entitled, Educate to Innovate.
September 29, 2009 — Victoria Bergsagel presented her analysis of the synergy between the educational program and the building at the Virginia Education Facility Planners (VEFP) mid-year conference. She found that the leadership, non-traditional elementary school programs, and exemplary design have very positively impacted the learning of the students. The VEFP is a chapter of the Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI).
Click here for a link to the seminar web site
August 4, 2009 — The Los Angeles Times reports that the dropout rate in the LA Unified School District is down significantly. The conversion of large high schools into smaller learning communities is credited as part of the reason for this dramatic improvement. Architects of Achievement has been deeply involved with school transformations in L.A., advising the school district how to make the transition to smaller learning environments, as early as 2003.
Click here for a link to the L.A. times article
May 8, 2009 — Victoria Bergsagel will speak at the closing session of the Pennsylvania School Board Association (PSBA) 2009 School Design & Construction Conference on May 8, 2009. Along with Tracy Suchan-Toothaker (Marysville School District) and Craig Mason (DLR Architects) Bergsagel will give a presentation on the Marysville School District and its successful changes. The presenters will show that planning and design can occur simultaneously. A nonspecific approach can result in a facility with unparalleled flexibility, capable of adapting to changing curriculum design.
Click here for a link to the PSBA conference
April 28, 2009 — Victoria Bergsagel will jury the "School of the Future" design competition in Washington, D.C., on April 28, 2009. The competition is hosted by the Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI).
Click here to find out more about School Building Week
April 7, 2009 — Victoria Bergsagel and fellow presenters spoke at the National School Boards Association's 2009 Annual Conference in San Diego. The session was entitled "The Heart of Education Change: Rethinking Education through Planning and Design." Co-presenters Cindy Erickson (Marysville School District Board Member) and Craig Mason, AIA (DLR Group) told of their experience planning schools in Marysville, Washington.
Click here for a link to the NSBA Annual Conference.
Click here for the April 7 program.
April 1, 2009 — $44 Billion in Stimulus Funds Available. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that $44 billion for states and schools is now available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. The press release is available at the Department of Education's "Recovery" page.
Click here for a link to the Dept. of Education Recovery page.
March 20, 2009 — Victoria Bergsagel participated in the Architecture for Education Dream Team Education Symposium in Pasadena, CA. The symposium brought together an influential group of forward-thinking individuals to discuss the educational benefits of creative, integrated school design. Cosponsors included the University of Aurora and University of New Mexico.
March 2, 2009 — At the Annual Conference of the Virginia Education Facility Planners (VEFP), Victoria Bergsagel provided a keynote address, Designing Powerful Places for Learning. She joined Ron Bogle and Susan Rundle on an architectural jury that selected winners for the year's best elementary, middle and high school designs in Virginia.
Click here to read an abstract of the presentation.
Click here to see the VEFP winners.
January 22, 2009 — Together with Craig Mason and Tom Vander Ark (Mangaging Director of Revolutionary Learning), Victoria Bergsagel travelled to Shanghai to assist a network of international schools develop a range of potential capacity and facilities improvements on a number of their campuses.
November 26, 2008 — At an exciting meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, Victoria Bergsagel met with 100 of the top managers of Nord Anglia International Schools Division and Baring Private Equity Asia to discuss Powerful Places for Learning.
November 19, 2008 — David Stephen made a presentation to officials from the Dayton Regional STEM Academy and Wright State University College of Education, including the Board of Directors, university partners, building developers, and founding teachers about designing dynamic STEM environments.
November 17-18, 2008 — David Stephen worked with T-STEM in Dallas, Texas to discuss progress in the development of 38 STEM Academies.
November 14, 2008 — The Oregon School Board Association (OSBA) hosted Victoria Bergsagel, Todd Ferking, and Greg O���Mara as they presented The Journey to a Smaller Learning Community at the OSBA���s 62nd Annual Meeting.
October 2, 2008 — Victoria Bergsagel joined Craig Webber and Ken Stevenson on a Bringing it All Together Plenary Panel moderated by Sue Robertson at the Council of Educational Facility Planners Annual Conference in San Diego, CA. After listening to hundreds of participants they summed up the group's learning and offered insights into next steps for participants and the organization.
September 30, 2008 — Victoria Bergsagel, alongside Craig Mason and Tracy Suchan-Toothaker, spoke at the Council of Educational Facility Planners Annual Conference in San Diego, CA. Their session, The Heart of Educational Change, addressed how learning environments can be designed to be agile, expandable and adaptable to curricula and activities of the future and better prepared to accommodate the evolution of education throughout the life of the facility. The new Marysville-Getchell High School Campus was featured.
September 4-5, 2008 — Victoria Bergsagel participates in a forum entitled Creating Effective Learning Environments in Historic and Non-Traditional School Facilities in New York City. The forum, part of AAF's Great Schools by Design program, is intended to educate communities, designers, and decision-makers on the challenges and benefits of historic preservation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings, as well as options for adapting other structures to educational uses.
August 15, 2008 — Victoria Bergsagel presents Powerful Places for Learning at the Tandus Design Symposium in Santa Fe, NM.
July 17, 2008 — Victoria Bergsagel, together with Kelley Tanner and Craig Mason present The Heart of Educational Change: Rethinking Education Through Planning and Design at the Council of Educational Facility Planners International Regional Conference in Portland, OR.
April 30, 2008 — For the fifth year running, Victoria Bergsagel serves on a national design jury for School Building Week's School of the Future Design Competition, which offers students across the country with the opportunity to illustrate the kind of creativity they can bring to the school planning and design process.
Left to Right: CEFPI members Judy Hoskens, Merle Kirkley, Barb Worth, Tom Ellis, John Ramsey, with Victoria Bergsagel.
April 2008 — Victoria Bergsagel is part of the League of Extraordinary School Designers at the School Building Expo. This team of five thought leaders was selected to share ideas on good school design at the conference.
April 2, 2008 — Victoria Bergsagel, Craig Mason and Amy Yurko present a seminar entitled Imagination to Reality: High School Gets Flexible, Adaptable & Inviting at the School Building Expo in Chicago, IL.
March 2008 — The Architects of Achievement office has moved! Please make note of our new address under the "Contact" page.
February 2008 — Victoria Bergsagel, Ellis Kaufman, Tony Wagner, and others will be presenting at the Small Learning Community Winter Institute. The event will feature workshops with presenations from various school teams, community, parents and students on the topic of small learning communities at Los Angeles Unified School District.
December 2007 — An article entitled, Designing for Achievement: Processes, Principles and Patterns, authored by Victoria Bergsagel, is featured CEFPI's quarterly publication, Educational Facility Planner. The article explores how architecture gives form to the patterns by which we live and how our interest in a school's physical space can influence its philosophy and learning culture.
November 14, 2007 — Together with Kathleen Moore, Director of Facilities for the California Department of Education, and Mary Filardo of the 21st Century School Fund, Victoria Bergsagel made a presentation at the California Achievement Gap Summit entitled The Impact of School Facilities on Student Performance and Retention of Teachers.
Click here to read the presentation.
November 2007 — Together with authors Tim Best, Kathleen Cushman, Lorne Mc Conachie, Wendy Sauer, and David Stephen, Victoria Bergsagel releases Architecture for Achievement: Building Patterns for Small School Learning. In the book, this team of experienced architects and educators charts a practical and elegant path through the maze of decisions encountered in a school building or conversion project. Filled with examples from the filled, Architecture for Achievement sets out a "pattern language" with which planners can explore the architectural details that will make or break their school's design. Now available on Amazon.com.
November 2007 — Architects of Achievement releases their new DVD entitled, Architecture for Achievement: Our Kids Deserve Better. Vividly illustrating a variety of smart design patterns, the video — used in conjunction with an accompanying video guide and with the new book, Architecture for Achievement: Building Patterns for Small School Learning — is a valuable resource for anyone embarking upon, or in the midst of, a school redesign process.
November 2007 — Authors Victoria Bergsagel, Tim Best, Kathleen Cushman, and David Stephen together facilitate a session entitled, "Learner-Focused Architecture: Building Patterns for Small School Learning" at the annual Coalition of Essential Schools Fall Forum in Denver, Colorado. The session highlighted key concepts from the newly released book, Architecture for Achievement: Building Patterns for Small School Learning.
October 10-12, 2007 — A keynote address entitled, "Benefits of Small School Initiatives" was delivered by Victoria Bergsagel at the annual state conference for the Michigan American Institute of Architects (hosted by the Michigan Architectural Foundation).
October 5-9, 2007 — At the annual CEFPI conference in Toronto, Canada, Victoria Bergsagel and David Stephen presented a seminar entitled, "Designs for Achievement" with Steven Bingler, engaging participants in learning how to utilize powerful processes, principles and patterns to achieve outstanding educational results.
April 2007 — Together with Gaylaird Christopher, Victoria Bergsagel wrote an article for the American School Board Journal���s annual Learning by Design publication entitled, Making the Best Sense of Small Schools: Educational Program Goals Drive Effective Design. The article relates how a smart balance between educational program goals, curriculum and design features results in small schools that make sense for all students.
March 30, 2007 — Victoria Bergsagel, joined by Randy Fielding, facilitated a panel discussion and half-day training session at the Washington State CEFPI Annual Conference entitled, "A Pattern Language for Schools... Is there One? Should There Be One?" This session included thoughtful participants, a distinguished panel and most importantly, teacher and student involvement. In fact, students stole the show as they displayed technology prowess and offered tremendous insight into a more powerful and effective learning environments.
March 29, 2007 — For the second year in a row, Victoria Bergsagel served on the design jury for the Polished Apple Award, selecting Washington state's most innovative school architecture project and identifying three projects of merit. The awards were given by the Washington State Chapter of the Council of Educational Facility Planners International.
August 8, 2006 — Victoria Bergsagel testified to the Joint Education Committee of the Louisiana House and Senate. As a result, the committee approved eight design principles focused on: supporting a variety of learning styles; enhancing learning by technology integration; fostering a small school culture; supporting neighborhood schools; creating schools as centers of community; engaging the public in the planning process; making healthy, comfortable, and flexible learning spaces; and providing non-traditional options for school facilities and classrooms. In addition to approving the suggested design guidelines, the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) also established an initial allocation of $200 million to begin the educational facilities recovery process.
Click here for more information from the LRA
June 22, 2006 — Victoria Bergsagel presented to the Los Angeles Unified School District's Board of Directors Select Committee on Small Learning Communities. Victoria updated the committee, as well as key LAUSD leaders from the Office of the Superintendent, Office of School Redesign, and Facilities Division, on the progress of small learning community development in the district as well as lessons learned in both conversion projects and new high school design.
June 2006 — Victoria Bergsagel contributes an article entitled Community Partnerships — Student Success and Community Vitality to School Planning & Management magazine. The article shares that, while schools have long been the heart of their communities, both schools and communties can be transformed by partnering together to help all students achieve.
May 9, 2006 — At the CEFPI 2006 Pacific Northwest Region Conference, Victoria Bergsagel served on the design jury for the Pinnacle and Polished Apple Awards, presented to entrants exhibiting innovative school architecture.
May 1-2, 2006 — Victoria Bergsagel delivers a plenary session at the Southwest Education Alliance's Redesigning Schools Conference. Approximately 300 supintendents, directors, supervisors, school level administrators, and teachers attended the conference, held in Charlotte, North Carolina.
April 4, 2006 — CEFPI's Southeast Region Annual Conference featured two seminars by Victoria Bergsagel. The first, entitled "Gates Foundation Results," focused on the research base, promising results, and change strategy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In the second, "Small Schools From the Ground Up and the Roof Down," Bergsagel shared innovative design solutions for new small school construction as well as for schools converting existing facilities to accomodate smaller learning communities.