Selection of Educational Planner

On Oct. 22, 2012 The Board approved the contract with BrainSpaces, Inc. as educational planner for the high school project.

On Sept. 24, 2012 the administration recommended the firm BrainSpaces, Inc. as the educational planning firm for the upcoming high school project. This step came after a months-long process of interviews and reviews of the four originally selected potential firms. A Request for Proposal was issued in early July, followed by interviews in August by two district teams. The first team was composed of central office administrators and representatives of the Board of Directors. The second interview team was formed of teachers, curriculum coordinators, high school and Career and Technical (CTC) administrators.

Following public interviews with three firms, Brainspaces, Inc., Fanning/Howey, and Frank Locker (Architects of Achievement removed themselves from consideration), the two interview teams discussed the options at length and chose Brainspaces, Inc., led by Amy Yurko, to be the recommended firm.

The Board did not take action on this during the meeting, but had the opportunity to discuss the options at the table. The board discussed this during their first meeting in October, and took action to approve Brainspaces, Inc. and the contract for services at the October 24th meeting. Read the full press release (PDF)

These are the steps followed for the selection of an educational planning firm:

Board Memo on Educational Planner selection is a PDF file outlining the process the district plans to execute prior to proposing a finalist to the full board.
Review of Proposals: The Board Subcommittee for Culture Climate and Learning met Aug. 2, 2012 to review the proposals submitted for Educational Consultant to lead the visioning process to develop State College Area High School's 21st Century Educational Specification Document.

Four firms were selected for interviews, which took place the afternoons of August 16 and 23. These interviews were taped for public broadcast. As of Aug. 23, three firms remained in the interview process. The selected firms are: