Business officers probably know what else is changing with the maker movement. Along with new budgetary considerations and challenges, you may have to look at learning in new ways—evaluating, for instance, whether that 3D printer or laser cutter (let alone a new standalone makerspace building) fits into your school's educational mission and strategic plan. How much space will the investment need? Where will you find the dollars to fund it? What about long-term funding for staffing, equipment and upkeep?
Just as there are no one-size-fits-all models for independent schools, there are no one-size-fits-all answers to questions about makerspaces. That's why I encourage you to take advantage of everything NBOA offers, from the international network of professional peers to exclusive research, publications and educational programming. Besides an in-depth exploration in the forthcoming Net Assets, for instance, let me give you a few more reasons to be excited about the 2016 NBOA Annual Meeting.
Specifically, let's talk about what you might be doing next Tuesday, February 23.
At 7:30 a.m., after a delicious NBOA-provided breakfast, you can hop on a chartered bus and tour one of four extraordinary independent schools that are on the vanguard of the maker movement. Will you see the Saban IDEAlab at the Archer School for Girls? The Center for Teaching and Learning, and the CREATE Studio, at Windward School? The LEED Gold-certified science and research facility at Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences? Or, for an innovative example of repurposed space on a small urban campus, how about the rooftop playground at the Center for Early Education?
Back at the JW Marriott conference hotel, sessions will cover various aspects of facilities management, such as master planning and facility audits. But I'm particularly excited about a Tuesday afternoon Deep Dive on Educational Spaces of the Future. This dynamic program will feature four independent school professionals with first-hand experience in the maker movement: a business officer on financing, an architect and technology-support provider on design, and a head of school on the positive ways an innovative learning space impacts her faculty, students and staff every day.
Makerspaces are transforming independent schools—and they're more achievable than you may think. Hope to see you next week in Los Angeles.
