What Are We Doing Here? Evaluating Student Belonging in School Environments

What is the role of a school in its community? Designers strive to create school environments that perform for the communities they serve, but the education design industry has struggled to agree on what “perform” actually means. Do we want students to like their school? Probably, but that only scratches the surface of what great school design should be doing.

Michael Ralph, PhD, WELL Faculty, Multistudio

EDmarket Summer Road Trips

Nothing is better than seeing your members face to face! This summer the EDmarket Team was on the road at NeoCon, ISTE and ERDI. Happy smiles and welcoming members to their exhibit booths and receptions. The EDmarket team (the mighty 5) at Neocon visiting member showrooms (Karen Prince, Jim McGarry, and Adrienne Dayton) and working the EDmarket Bold Women Podcast booth (Kelly Fisher and Heather Tuley). Special thanks to KI and Dauphin HumanCentered Design Group for hosting the podcast studios.

School Library Renovations Balancing Quiet and Interactive Spaces

As libraries renovate to expand their mission and host an eclectic mix of activities, library professionals, students, and teachers are busy reinventing the ways libraries accelerate the learning experience. Influences driving today’s creative disruption include generational differences in how students consume media and digital technology to support a range of individual learning styles, and the growing need for multipurpose, social engagement spaces.

Benjamin Markham, FASA, LEED AP, ACENTECH  |  Peter Reiss, AIA, LEED AP, ARC

The Design for Learning Co-Lab: Where Innovation Meets Education

The Design for Learning Co-Lab is here to facilitate a future-focused transformation. By creating a common vocabulary and uniting educators, architects, product developers, and researchers, the Co-Lab is building a comprehensive, accessible blend of the most impactful evidence-based insights guiding design strategies.  

Jim McGarry, EDmarket

Aarco Products, Inc. Celebrates 50 Years Vincenzo DeMartino Shares What Makes Company Special

Vincenzo DeMartino is Vice President at Aarco Products, Inc., celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. An EDmarket member since 1998, Aarco Products is a visual display product manufacturer based out of Yaphank, New York. Founded in 1975, Aarco Products is now on its third generation of leadership providing innovative and collaborative products for professional environments. Vincenzo is Chair of the EDmarket Equipment Manufacturers Council and on the Board of Directors.

Holistic School Safety Marries Maslow

Imagine walking into a school where students feel both protected and empowered. Common areas hum with conversation, flexible spaces foster learner-centered pedagogy, and quiet nooks offer refuge for reflection. There is a sense of ease — of belonging. Contrast this with a school designed like a fortress: metal detectors at the entrance, limited connections to nature, classrooms locked down like bank vaults. In which environment would students feel safer? More importantly, in which would they thrive?

Cierra Mantz, AIA, Fielding International  |  Nathan Strenge, Fielding International  |  Randy Fielding, AIA, Fielding International

Legacy Through Mentorship Shaping the Future of Architecture One Relationship at a Time

As architects, we are taught to design for the future — to anticipate how people will live, learn, and connect. In the same way, mentorship is an investment in that future. Our buildings may be the most visible expression of our work, but our greatest legacy will be the people we support and the careers we help shape. By embracing mentorship as an ongoing, relational practice, we not only elevate our profession — we ensure that it remains vital, inclusive, and resilient for generations to come.

Sarah Gould, AIA, KKT Architects

Inside Grand Forks’ Career Impact Academy

In 2023, students from Grand Forks Public Schools were asked the question — “What do you want out of this new facility?” Overwhelmingly, their charge was to create a building that didn’t feel like a traditional school. They wanted a building that supports their interests and creates opportunities to explore in an environment that celebrates learning over home-school identity.

Katie Becker, AIA, NCARB, LEED Green Assoc., JLG Architects

Smarter Spaces. Stronger Connections: How Smart Technologies are Making Academic Libraries Cool Again

The campus library is undergoing dramatic change. No longer just a quiet sanctuary devoted solely to books and hushed tones, today’s academic libraries now host dynamic, multifunctional hubs that foster learning, collaboration, and community building. Embedded smart technologies are helping designers measure and plan for these shifts that begin to lay the groundwork towards cultivating a sense of belonging.

Derek Jones, AIA, LEED AP®, Perkins&Will  |  Jessica Figenholtz, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP® BD+C, Perkins&Will

What’s Your Next Offer?

The channels through which we conduct our marketing have evolved. Catalogs and other forms of direct mail were our marketing staples, but e-marketing has become the predominant channel. Media is important; however, our preoccupation with media can cause us to lose sight of the message. In the final analysis, sales success depends upon the message.

Bob Stimolo

The Bold Women Collective: A Movement with Heart

From humble yet proud beginnings at EDspaces, the Bold Women Collective has blossomed into something extraordinary — a movement powered by women who are not only shaping the future of education but doing so with courage, conviction, and compassion. What started as a single idea has evolved into a thriving, dynamic community — a place where personal stories, professional purpose, and shared passion come together.

Darlene Akers, Akers Business Solutions  |  Deborah Kerr, St. Francis Public School District  |  Jolene Levin, ECLPS

How Much Daylight Is Enough? A Call for Deeper Research into Light Thresholds in Learning Environments

The science of daylighting has come far. But to meet the needs of today’s students, workers, and patients, it must go further. It’s time for universities, research institutions, and philanthropic organizations to fund targeted studies into daylight dosage — research that connects specific light exposure conditions to measurable outcomes in cognition, emotional well-being, attendance, and academic achievement.

Dr. Doug Milburn, Advanced Glazings