For 20 years, I have promoted constructing today's schools with the future in mind, yet as many school districts begin planning for the year 2050, I am starting to think this foresight/forethought might actually be a distracting course of action. Some districts may try to plan so far into the future that they neglect the present.
But, there is an option to do both: plan for today and appropriately and practically plan for tomorrow.
"Small schools are good" may not be as true as it sounds! To encourage such a broad-based theme as small schools is certainly well intended, but an incredible number of factors also affect the success and true realization of this theme.
The question is, what is a "right-sized" school for your needs and how do you accomplish it?
In the old days, educational excellence was defined as being better than the school district next door. This might include winning more Friday night football games, a slightly better grade point average, and a few more kids going to college. This is no longer an acceptable standard. Times have changed.
Today, top-notch school districts around the country see competition as a national, and even international responsibility, where performance standards are getting tougher and the best colleges and technical schools are far more selective.