This document presents a facilities plan for Burke County High School's media center. It identifies four areas of concern based on student and teacher surveys: 1) lack of space for small group work, 2) uncomfortable seating in the college and career center, 3) distractingly short bookshelves, and 4) inadequate computer lab layout. The proposed solutions are to reallocate office space to create a small group room, purchase new chairs, replace short bookshelves with taller ones, and reconfigure the computer lab to add an interactive whiteboard. The total estimated cost of improvements is $8,989.

1. Facilities Plan Tyler Torek Burke County High School FRIT 7132, Fall 2010

2. An Overview of the Burke County HS Home of the Bears! Located in Waynesboro, GA. 30 minutes south of Augusta. Serves over 1400 students. Majority of students are black. Only public high school in county. Free & Reduced Lunch School. Uses a modified-block schedule.

3. Our Media Center Located in the heart of the building. Open from 7:30 – 5:00. Two media specialists, Ms. Barajas & Mr. Torek Media Clerk, Mrs. Wimberly.

4. From the Outside Looking In

5. From the Inside Looking Out

6. Our Second Entrance

7. The Circulation Desk

8. Our Seating

9. Our Computer Lab

10. Our College & Career Center

11. The Workroom

12. Current Layout Seating Bookshelves Computer Lab College & Career Center Created with Google SketchUp

14. Many books

15. Computers need update to Office 2007

16. Small facility compared to others

18. Great centralized location

19. Glass wall distracting to classes

20. Separate computer lab so MC can accommodate two classes

21. Add Promethean Board in lab

22. Give us back the small classroom

23. College & Career Center chairs are uncomfortableFrom the results, we have identified four facility problems…

24. Areas of Concern in Red 4-foot High Bookshelves Tall Bookshelves Computer Lab College & Career Center

25. Concern 1: No Space for Small Groups The data clerk’s office was once a small classroom that teachers could reserve for small group testing, instruction, special services testing, and speech therapy. These teachers now have to use the open media center seating, which can be distracting when other groups are using the facility. Also, students of special services teachers feel embarrassed to be seen with them in the open. In addition to serving classes, this room would be a great conference room for meetings when the front office conference room is occupied.

26. Solution... Relocate the data clerk to the security office, and move the security officer to the front office.

27. New Policy… The new space would be available for reservation on a first come, first serve basis. No teacher would be allowed to reserve it for more than 3 consecutive days without approval from the instructional coordinator. *This is the only policy change needed for the facility revisions.

28. Concern 2: Seating at the C&C Center Students find the seating at the College & Career Center uncomfortable to sit at for lengthy periods of time.

29. Solution... Purchase 10 high-back chairs with padding. $99 each from Wal-Mart Total = $990

30. Concern 3: The Short Bookshelves The short bookshelves allow students on the outside of the media center glass to peer in. This becomes distracting during high-traffic times such as before homeroom and lunchtime or during testing times.

31. Solution... Replace them with 7 tall bookshelves. This would significantly limit the view of onlookers from outside the media center. $999 each from Demco Total = $6999

32. Concern 4: The Computer Lab The computer lab was installed as an afterthought of the media center. Currently there is no room to mount a Promethean Board/projector for instruction. In addition, half of the monitors are facing away from the circulation desk. This makes it difficult monitor the activity of students.

33. Solution... Remove the 3 bookshelves near the lab to give it more room. This would allow us to mount our Promethean Board and position the computers for easy monitoring. (Note: These 3 bookshelves are tall and could be used to replace some of the short shelves.) New Lab Layout

34. Media Center Facilities Plan For Burke County High School By Tyler Torek FRIT 7132, Fall 2010