Reconfigure and Retrofit: Creating Safer Post-COVID Classrooms

What Creates Well-Being

Well-being has a sweet spot. It happens at the intersection of our physical, cognitive and emotional health — with safety being foundational to all three. Schools must be supportive, connected communities that ensure safety exists:

Physically.

Students and educators can work and learn in places where they’re able to stay active, healthy and safe while minimizing exposure to pathogens that cause illness.

Emotionally.

People feel safe, supported and a sense of belonging so learning can thrive. They feel confident that administrators have done everything possible to create a safe environment, especially for those who may be personally at high risk or living with someone who is.

Cognitively.

People can focus on teaching and learning and not be distracted by fear for their personal safety.

Five Classroom Modification Target

Before COVID-19 hit the world full-force, modern learning spaces were designed to support active, engaged modes of learning. Educators emphasized student autonomy, fluid collaboration, and flexibility for a wide range of learning styles. Many of these attributes can now pose challenges, as we strive to limit close physical interactions and, thus, the spread of infection.

Educators, as well as architects and designers, need to rethink pre-COVID classroom characteristics:

Density.

Many learning spaces accommodated high density over a longer period of time (duration), including in classrooms, cafeterias and auditoriums.

Common/shared spaces.

Shared spaces like media centers and science labs fostered broad-reaching social connections and high-touch experiences with technology, resources and furniture.

Reconfigurability.

Active learning classrooms allowed students and educators to reconfigure furniture quickly to be more engaged in learning. Often, this reduced the distance between people.

High mobility.

Mobile technologies and power solutions enabled students to move freely, allowing learning spaces to be highly dynamic environments with lots of energy.

Informal spaces.

Nooks, alcoves and hang-out spots that had been set aside for quiet study were particularly high-touch.

Modify through Reconfiguring

So how can schools practice social distancing and maintain safe classroom spaces? Reconfiguring the classroom – or moving it entirely – is one approach, using flexible classroom design considerations like these:

Reduce density.

Arrange students six feet apart (about two arms’ lengths, maybe three if those arms are little). Gain square footage wherever possible, like reducing teacher-only space. Also seat students to face one direction. Per the CDC, “Limiting face-to-face contact with others [who are not from your household] is the best way to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”

We all know this by now, but it doesn’t hurt repeating the CDC’s science. “Spread happens when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks, and droplets from their mouth or nose are launched into the air and land in the mouths or noses of people nearby. The droplets can also be inhaled into the lungs.”

Creating physical distance can also happen by repurposing larger spaces like the gym and cafeteria to accommodate more students. Then add desks and chairs. Teachers might also move classrooms outdoors for part of the day. Granted, these options can be unrealistic for some schools, due to overcrowding, lack of large indoor spaces, limited outdoor spaces, or outdoor spaces that are not safe and/or comfortable for everyone.

Change the Layout.

Schools can rearrange classroom furniture to create six feet of physical distance. Doing so also gives students a visual reminder to respect the radius. If furnishings have casters, keep those in locked position to help prevent “COVID creep.”

For educators who need layout suggestions, Smith System has created sample classroom floorplans that support multiple learning models with physical distance. Each diagram shows seating, tables, desk and storage diagrams, along with traffic-flow arrows, based on classroom square footage and number of students.

The floorplans also map out how schools can use their existing Smith System® classroom furniture as dual-purpose solutions. For example:

•         Cascade® storage carts as sanitation stations throughout a school
•         Cascade® storage cases and towers with personal student totes to reduce touchpoints
•         Planner® Studio Whiteboard as dual barrier and instruction board