School Planning Summit

Save the Date – A School Planning Summit! November 7, 2025!

A Public Schools + Communities Division Online Conference!

Schools have long held a central place in how towns and neighborhoods are planned. More than a hundred years ago, Clarence Perry created the concept of the “neighborhood unit,” which was a model for creating new districts based on school size and location. Yet school planning, often managed separately by Boards of Education, is frequently cut off from other planning efforts. Our division addresses this disconnect! We want to integrate school planning into the broader planning field. Our online conference will be dedicated to bridging this divide – focused on solutions-oriented presentations and discussions of issues affecting our communities and schools today.

We hope you will attend!

What will it focus on?

Conference sessions will focus on three broad themes:

  1. Schools + Communities. This may include discussions on local government and school district collaboration, land use and schools, transportation, educational workforce housing and governance issues.
  2. School Facility Trends. This may include discussions on school design and siting, school closures and mergers, joint use of school buildings and schoolyards, schools and planning for climate change.
  3. School Planning & Policies for Today and the Future. This may include the impact of school choice, shifting enrollments, and emerging technologies. 

Who is this conference for?

We hope it is for you! Specifically, we are targeting:

  • School district staff and board members
  • Planning professionals working with (or aspire to work with) school districts 
  • K-12 design professionals who want to broaden their thinking
  • Local elected officials 
  • Researchers and scholars including those who study schools, neighborhoods and communities
  • Students of urban planning

When will it be and what is the cost to attend?

Friday November 7, 2025. Mark your calendars!

We will be charging $75 for Division members, $100 for non-Division members, and $25 for students. These fees will provide our Division with support and the ability to enhance our programming and activities. There will be CM credits for planners.

How can you participate in shaping the conference?

The conference committee is assembling some amazing speakers/panels, but we are also inviting you to submit session proposals that you will coordinate. We are looking for people to coordinate those sessions – you can also be a speaker or a moderator on the panel, but you must be prepared to select, confirm and coordinate with the other panellists! If you are interested, please fill out this googleform. Submission deadline is July 18.  

Do you know an organization that would be a conference sponsor or partner?

We are interested in having paid sponsors at the level of $1,000 / $500 / $250. This will come with different levels of publicity (on our website and during the conference) and free conference registrations! Please reach out to amber185@usf.edu

We are also offering partnership opportunities for academic institutions and school-related not-for-profit organizations. Partners who promote/advertise the conference via their social media and contacts will be highlighted on the website and during the conference. If you are interested, please reach out to adamlubinsky@wxystudio.com.

How will you stay up-to-date?

Please stay tuned as we continue to update this website with speaker, panel and registration information: www.SchoolPlanningSummit.com