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Considerations for Designing Safe Schools

September 11, 2025

School safety is one of the most complex issues in educational design today. Teachers, administrators, parents, and safety officers all bring different experiences, priorities, and perspectives to the conversation with all of them having merit. Designing for safety isn’t about choosing one viewpoint over another, it’s about balance and open discussion, encouraging the creation of a facility in which each individual school district sees their highest risks and priorities addressed. 

Looking at safety strategies provides the opportunity for a layered approach that can support a variety of safety and security situations. 

Waterloo CSD George Washington Carver Academy


Entrance Strategies

Designing a school with enhanced security begins at the front door. By including a managed entry sequence for the building, you offer an immediate way to increase safety by slowing down access and monitoring who comes in. Controlled entry sequences, including locked doors at the exterior entrance with a two-way communication device creates an opportunity to see and talk to people that approach your school. At this entrance, direct visual access from the reception area with camera support as needed helps visually assess who is at the door before they are granted access. Many schools direct visitors to visit the registration desk or administration office before being allowed to enter the remainder of the building.

Cedar Falls CSD Cedar Falls High School


Windows

From glazing strategies to frame sizing, the windows are another important piece of school safety design. Installing laminated glass in lieu of standard tempered glass makes access through a window opening more difficult. This is an option where daylight and visibility are important design drivers. Raising sill heights and narrowing openings can make access through a window considerably more difficult as well and may be suited to interior glazed openings or windows with limited visibility.

Visibility

Be aware that visibility may be perceived as both an advantage and hinderance to a facility, depending on the perspective. Safety officials often prioritize clear sightlines to monitor activity and reduce the potential for hiding places, while educators and parents may have concerns about privacy and distractions. These perspectives become even more pressing when measuring indoor/​outdoor visibility goals

From the outside, visibility into a school can signal an active, vibrant learning environment and allows viewers to assess the level of safety during demanding situations. However, this same openness may be considered a risk to students, as it can counteract measures to assure student privacy. 

Best practices to find balance between these perspectives includes:

  • Discourage the application of opaque film on entrance doors. People often prefer to walk into spaces that they can see before they enter.
  • Apply semi-opaque or translucent graphic films that allow views out, but limit views can help reduce visual access to groups of students.
  • Discuss the need for safety officers with alternate security perspectives to have visual access with school administrators.
  • Consider areas in which students congregate on the site, such as a commons space. Do these spaces have to be at the front of the building? While they tend to benefit from access to natural light, can they be moved out of visitors’ lines of sight?

Within classrooms, sidelights — which are generally encouraged as a safety measure to prevent hidden actions — sometimes raise concerns amongst teachers, who note that they may distract students, especially in lower grades. Amenities such as translucent film on a portion of the sidelights can address both safety and privacy concerns. Similarly, large interior windows can showcase dynamic learning environments, but they must be thoughtfully placed to allow students to shelter out of view if necessary.

Throughout the building, safety officials often advocate for straight, wide corridors with minimal visual obstructions. Cross-corridor gates are preferred over solid walls, as they maintain openness while allowing secure lockdowns. Locker placement also affects supervision with clusters of low-top lockers in dedicated zones offering better visibility than continuous runs along hallways.

Compartmentalization for Containment

Good safety design also considers how a building can be segmented in an emergency. Physically separating after-hours zones for public use, such as gyms, auditoriums, or cafeterias, allows for better security control during events. Internal barriers, like cross-corridor gates or grilles, can help isolate threats while preserving safe egress routes. While solid doors can block views, grilles allow visibility while maintaining separation, offering a preferred solution for some safety teams.

Door Hardware That Enables Fast Action

In a lockdown, every second matters. Classroom doors can be fitted with hardware to allow staff to secure the room quickly from inside, using either keyed intruder locksets or thumb-turn options. Keyed systems offer more control but require the key to be accessible; thumb-turns are faster but may be misused. Some districts are also exploring electronic locking systems that can be activated remotely. In any case, training is essential; hardware is only as effective as the people using it.

Communications Infrastructure That Keeps Everyone Informed

Reliable, intuitive communication systems are vital. Whether it’s an upgraded intercom, a classroom phone system, or a lanyard-based alert device, every space would benefit from a way to notify administration and safety teams quickly. Some schools are also investing in mass notification software that integrates with building-wide systems to deliver instructions, coordinate responses, and manage reunification.

Clear Signage That Supports Emergency Response

Every entrance should be clearly marked from the outside with large, visible identification that can be seen from a distance. Internally, room numbers should be visible from inside the room as well, so occupants can communicate their location easily. These low-cost additions make a big difference in helping responders navigate during emergencies.

Thoughtful Classroom Design

The shape and layout of a classroom can affect how students and staff can respond in a crisis. Rooms can be designed to have a ​“safe corner” — a space not visible from the corridor — that can be used during lockdowns. This kind of spatial planning doesn’t impact day-to-day function but can offer some protection when it’s needed most.

Site Planning That Supports Safety from the Start

Safety doesn’t begin at the door. It starts on the site. Traffic flow for pick-up and drop-off should minimize student crossings. Parking areas should be well-lit, with clear visual access and minimal blind spots. Avoiding dense landscaping that creates hiding places and installing emergency call stations may be good options for some campuses. Site grading can also play a role with slopes enhancing visibility and reducing concealment.

The Small Details

Discuss the smaller details. Reviewing camera locations and knowing who’s providing the necessary design and documentation should be understood by the design team and the owner. Discuss where administrators may want a gathering place outside of the school during emergencies and plan for the space it might need. 

Safety doesn’t only focus on intruders. When designing a space for students and teachers, attention should be paid to the details. Avoid potentially hazardous designs, such as high edges, sharp outside corners, and surprise changes in elevation. Consider any nooks or hidden corners where people may hide. While they could be useful during emergencies, these nooks could also be unsafe spaces for students being bullied or harassed.

Designing Schools That Work for People

At its core, safety in school design is about supporting people, empowering teachers, and protecting students and staff, while creating an environment that suits each individual facility. There are thousands of decisions to go into a well-functioning school, and no two learning environments are ever the same. Designing for safety is ultimately about discussing the many diverse and often divergent views of a group about what is right for their unique space.