The average age of a main instructional school building in the United States is 49 years, according to a survey by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
About 38% of schools were built before 1970. Roughly half of the schools surveyed have undergone a major building renovation or addition. Of those that have been renovated, the average age of the renovation was 14 years.
Major repair, renovation, or modernization work was being performed in 21% of all public schools surveyed as of December 2023. Indoor air quality is a major focus for many schools, with 39% having an indoor air quality coordinator on campus. This position is responsible for monitoring air quality conditions at the school and reporting air quality issues and complaints.
Some 60% of schools have designated vehicle loading and unloading areas at least 25 feet from all building air intakes, including doors and windows. Eighteen % of schools have an anti-idling program that includes signage and active monitoring during pick-up and drop-off times.
Some 31% of public schools have one or more non-permanent (portable) buildings in use.
Here are other findings from the NCES public school building survey:
The average age of the main instructional building is 49 years old. The following %ages of reporting public schools’ main instructional buildings were built during the following time periods:
- Pre-1970: 38%
- 1970 – 1999: 21%
- 2000 – present: 20%
Nearly all public schools (93%) reported having some kind of athletic amenities on-site. The most commonly reported types of facilities were:
- A gymnasium (69%)
- All-purpose grass field (68%)
- Outdoor basketball court (56%)
- Baseball/softball field (38%)
- Weight room (29%)
- Outdoor track (28%)
Most public schools have dedicated library space available (89%).
Compared to the national estimate (89%), higher percentages of public schools with the following characteristics reported having dedicated library space available:
- With 500-999 students (96%)
- With a student body made up of 0-25% students of color (96%)
- In rural areas (94%)
- With 300-499 students (93%)
- Elementary schools (93%)
- In low-poverty neighborhoods (92%)
Compared to the national estimate (89%), lower percentages of public schools with the following characteristics reported having dedicated library space available:
- In cities (84%)
- In high-poverty neighborhoods (81%)
- With a student body made up of 76% or more students of color (80%)
- High/secondary schools (80%)
- With 0-299 students (77%)
Related Stories
| Sep 4, 2013
K-12 school design that pays off for students
More and more educators are being influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach to pedagogy, with its mantra of “environment as the third teacher”—an approach that gives Building Teams a responsibility to pay even closer attention to the special needs of today’s schools.
| Sep 3, 2013
'School in a box' project will place school in San Diego public library
Thinking outside the box, LPA Inc. is designing a school inside a box. With an emphasis on three E’s—Engage, Educate, and Empower—e3 Civic High is now being constructed on the sixth and seventh floors of a public library in downtown San Diego. Library patrons will be able to see into the school via glass elevators, but will not have physical access to the school.
| Aug 30, 2013
Modular classrooms gaining strength with school boards
With budget, space needs, and speed-to-market pressures bearing down on school districts, modular classroom assemblies are often a go-to solution.
| Aug 26, 2013
What you missed last week: Architecture billings up again; record year for hotel renovations; nation's most expensive real estate markets
BD+C's roundup of the top construction market news for the week of August 18 includes the latest architecture billings index from AIA and a BOMA study on the nation's most and least expensive commercial real estate markets.
| Aug 22, 2013
Energy-efficient glazing technology [AIA Course]
This course discuses the latest technological advances in glazing, which make possible ever more efficient enclosures with ever greater glazed area.
| Aug 14, 2013
Five projects receive 2013 Educational Facility Design Excellence Award
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) has selected five educational and cultural facilities for this year’s CAE Educational Facility Design Awards.
| Aug 14, 2013
Green Building Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.
| Aug 12, 2013
New York’s first net-zero school will be a sustainability lab for city school system
An elementary school on Staten Island will be the first net-zero energy school in New York City and the Northeast. The school is designed to use half the energy of a typical New York public school. Construction will be completed in 2015.
| Jul 29, 2013
2013 Giants 300 Report
The editors of Building Design+Construction magazine present the findings of the annual Giants 300 Report, which ranks the leading firms in the AEC industry.
| Jul 22, 2013
School officials and parents are asking one question: Can design prevent another Sandy Hook? [2013 Giants 300 Report]
The second deadliest mass shooting by a single person in U.S. history galvanizes school officials, parents, public officials, and police departments, as they scrambled to figure out how to prevent a similar incident in their communities.