Community-guided design for safe and secure schools

Designing schools that are both safe and welcoming

How can schools create safer, more secure environments while still feeling welcoming, connected, and designed for learning?

In this episode of Ed Talks, a Treanor Talks series, Treanor Principal Patrick Johnson talks with Dr. Leslie Nichols, superintendent of Gunnison Watershed School District, about how community voices helped guide a years-long effort to reimagine the district’s schools.

Through its 2022 Bond Program, the Colorado district set out to address three major priorities: improving school safety and security, modernizing aging building systems, and creating better spaces for teaching and learning. But getting there required more than identifying facility needs. It meant listening to students, educators, families, community leaders, and even those who questioned the proposed changes.

That collaborative process also shaped the district’s approach to school safety. Rather than creating schools that feel fortified or institutional, the district worked with Treanor’s education design team to consider how everything from entrances and door controls to campus boundaries and signage could contribute to security while preserving a sense of welcome and belonging.

How disagreement can be a valuable tool for design

The conversation goes beyond physical security. Leslie shares what the district learned from engaging its community over several years, why disagreement can be valuable to the design process, and how new career and technical education and flexible learning spaces are already changing how students experience school.

For school leaders considering their own facility improvements, Leslie offers a reminder that meaningful change rarely happens overnight. Her advice: keep listening, stay responsive, and keep your eye on the long game.

Watch or listen to the full episode above to hear how a school district, its community, and its education architect worked together to turn shared priorities into safer, more connected places for students to learn.