Coralwood School and Diagnostic Center
Parent Council

Foundation..

Introduction | Mission | Non-Profit Status | Endowment Fund |Board of Directors | Current Committees & Projects | Higher Opportunities for Teachers | Public Relations and Fundraising | Additional Projects | How You Can Help

Additional Projects -
The Master Plan Initiative..

Several Coralwood Foundation board members initiated the first steps to develop a Master Plan for the 14-acre campus on which the School sits. This plan will guide future building and outdoor infrastructure construction, and provide a “road map” to better support the goal of Coralwood School: to educate children with special needs in an inclusive and integrated environment. This goal will be carried out by collecting information on the needs of the school through surveys, interviews, and community workshops involving parents, teachers, disability and inclusion experts, neighbors, and the Dekalb County School System. The study will include a survey of best design practices for inclusive environments, a series of community workshops and design charrettes eliciting ideas on what facilities the school needs, a detailed program of uses and square footage for the new physical plant, a site plan to guide future building and outdoor infrastructure construction, and an implementation “road map” to set priorities and meet necessary fundraising goals.

At a micro level, this plan will enable Coralwood to plan for the future, match spaces to programs, and prioritize necessary fundraising. The school desperately needs a multipurpose building that can host required physical therapies for children (motor, warm pool), outdoor spaces that support developmental needs, and green spaces that can also be used by the surrounding community. At the macro level, this plan will (i.) guide the transformation of Coralwood School’s physical plant into a model of an integrated learning environment. (ii.) We anticipate this will encourage school systems to drop the old Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) for school building design, and adopt newer Children’s Standards. (iii.) This initiative may also set a new benchmark for innovation on how public citizens can lead school improvement far beyond the standard “bake sale”.