Welcome 

On behalf of the La Unified School District, the Design Advisory Council, the USC School of Architecture, and the J. Paul Getty Trust, we are honored to welcome your participation in Lessons Learned, a series of events related to the design of the 85 new schools that are part of the current $2 billion building program.

In order to learn from this process for the future, the Design Advisory Council working with USC has organized two symposia. The first was held in November and sought to identify best practices, specifically how LAUSD and the architects they contract could work together more effectively. A third symposium is being planned for the early Fall 2002 and will concentrate on contemporary changes in educational philosophies and their relationship to facilities. It will also look at the role of technology in K-12 education. This third Symposium will be perhaps the most important of all in that it has the potential to lay the foundation for decisions concerning the next 200 schools in LA Unified.

The opening reception for Lessons Learned is taking place at the Getty Center on the 28th of February at 7:30 p.m. in the Museum Entrance Hall and will feature a display of representative schools selected by the Design Advisory Council (DAC). This reception will also serve as a presentation to the leaders of Los Angeles and members of the press of the new schools currently being designed for LAUSD

The Lessons Learned symposium to be held on March 1, 2002 will review the new schools in both presentations and break-out sessions. The symposium will start at 8:00 in the Museum Lecture Hall Lobby. The DAC has reviewed the designs submitted for over 60 schools and has developed a list of sixteen topical areas to be covered in the symposium breakout discussion groups. Members of the DAC will lead the discussions, which will be video-taped, transcribed, edited, and published. A series of "white papers" will be distributed to all the participating architects, to state educational agencies and decision makers, as well as to any school district that requests them. The J. Paul Getty Trust has been gracious to host Lessons Learned at their world-class facility. USC will provide the support for content, transcription, and publication.

At the conclusion of the day on March 1, a reception will be held for LAUSD project managers, board members, and superintendents. This will give a chance for LAUSD employees to see the display of representative projects and to meet and speak with the architects and project managers. This gathering will be held in the Getty Research Institute Lecture Hall.

All of us realize that thousands of man-hours that have been spent studying, researching, designing, and documenting creative solutions to a myriad of building issues. It is important that the successes related to this work be recognized. All of us associated with the design of these schools are excited by the possibility of learning from this work to better prepare the district for the next series of schools.

The DAC and LAUSD would like to thank you for your contribution to the education of our children and to the architecture of Los Angeles. We look forward to sharing your work with our community.

Sincerely,