what we do

We partner with school communities to transform traditional models into future-ready learning environments.

bridge icon

We bridge isolated departments around a common vision.

We develop organizational systems to sustainably support change.

We work with your stakeholders to define a new vision for learning.

We align environmental design to support your learning model.

the bold process

Discover

Drivers of change

We help stakeholders DISCOVER why they need to change

The educational landscape is in a transition as never before. Forces such as new understandings from brain science, virtual technologies allowing for flipped pedagogies and personalized learning, and increased demands from an ever-changing workforce are resulting in new solutions for learning. School systems often recognize this, transforming traditional school buildings into multi-modal learning settings, integrating advanced technologies with the intent of supporting new ways of teaching and learning.

Imagine

Preferred ideal state

We help stakeholders IMAGINE their preferred ideal state

It is important to begin with the end in mind. Our BOLD team will work with your campus to identify the traits that learners should have when they finish their time on campus, which becomes the learner profile. This profile includes anticipated skills to be developed, behaviors exemplified, and outcomes achieved. Aligning with this are the educator and leadership profiles, indicating the behaviors and traits educators and leaders need to support learners and the school culture appropriately.

Define

Transformational factors

We help stakeholders DEFINE their transformational factors

Transformational factors encompass the cultural and strategic goals of your campus. It is important to explicitly define the desired outcomes for your campus and the necessary expectations and practices to achieve them. Our BOLD team will work with campus leadership to develop a guiding purpose and goals, along with cultural and academic expectations and practices. While these are intended to be implemented campus-wide, within each there is the ability for educators to personalize their response.

Develop

Structure and systems

We help stakeholders DEVELOP their structures and systems

Your new school will operate differently to take full academic advantage of the types of spaces now available. Our BOLD process includes discussions on what supportive policies, procedures, and skill sets are needed to help meet your academic and cultural expectations. Many of these discussions involve increased collaboration with educators, ensuring they all feel ownership over the created systems and are confident in their implementation.

Achieve

Desired outcomes

We help stakeholders ACHIEVE their desired outcomes

The BOLD process incorporates a variety of ways to measure success in achieving alignment between your learning model and new spaces. These provide school stakeholders multiple ways to view ongoing progress and realign efforts if needed.

the bold process


what is involved

We collaborate with you every step of the way.

Our process is tailored for the requirements of each individual school but the types of workshops we include are:

  • District-campus goal alignment
  • Learner, educator, and leader profiles
  • Cultural and academic expectations
  • Policies, procedures, and systems development
  • Educator skill development
  • District-campus goal alignment
  • Learner, educator, and leader profiles
  • Cultural and academic expectations
  • Policies, procedures, and systems development
  • Educator skill development

our key services

Educational visioning
Change leadership development
Space and systems alignment
Culture and academic expectation development
Organizational development
Spatial affordance training
Behavioral commissioning

Who We Are

We are a team of educators, psychologists, leadership trainers, researchers & designers.

Dr. Marilyn Denison

Teaching and Learning Designer, DLR Group

Dr. Raechel French

Educational Planner + Researcher, DLR Group

Taryn Kinney, AIA, MA

Organizational Psychologist, DLR Group

Meegan Bennett
Meegan Bennett, MA

Business Development, DLR Group

Jillian Diffee
Jillian Diffee

Interior Designer, DLR Group

We are change experts.

OUTCOMES THAT BENEFIT LEARNING

Images below highlight how the BOLD process can align your organization, learning, and design to ensure you meet your teaching and learning goals.

our results

How we have improved our learner and educator experience

At DLR Group, we believe it is critically important to link our educational designs and our BOLD services to real impacts for students. The DLR Group Student Engagement Index™ (SEI™) and Teacher Engagement Index™ (TEI™) are online survey tools used to understand how our innovative design solutions are making a difference in the lives of learners. The data here benchmarks a school which received BOLD services with the national average.

91%

Of BOLD teachers felt their classrooms supported movement compared to 71% of our national average

52%

Of BOLD empowered teachers spend most of their time in collaboration and shared spaces versus just 33% of the national average

Teachers at our BOLD school felt their school valued collaboration the most, which correlates with higher engagement.

Choice of where students work is 17% more valuable to BOLD students than the national average.

"You can build a school, but without that intentional planning of how you want to use that space and how you want to intentionally be innovative, then it’s not going to happen. For me, the practices, the talk about learner and teacher practices, this makes it very real. You’re putting it in writing."
Lyn Reid, Assistant Principal/Curriculum, Canyon View High School

who we have worked with

Agua Fria Union
Austin Independent School District
Ben Reifel Bison
Boys Town
T.A. Brown Elementary School
Canyon View High School
Capps Middle School
Gahanna Lincoln High School
Govalle Elementary School
Jefferson Sioux Falls
Jefferson Terrace
Menchaca Elementary School
Putnam City School
Sioux Falls School District
Tomball ISD
Virgin Island Dept of Education

How can we help your school?

Let's chat.

contact us