This month marks the 3^rd anniversary of the launch of our award-winning LISC research portal, SchoolBuild: From Idea to Construction. We launched SchoolBuild with the mission of demystifying the facility development process. To celebrate, we wanted to take some time to reflect on the achievements and progress we have made since launching.

SchoolBuild started in October 2017 with a healthy selection of articles, guides, and resources. These items shared best practices from our partners from all over the charter school facility sector. Today, thanks to our SchoolBuild team and many of the partners, we were able to extend our content offering to include live events, newsletters, webinars, and this very blog.

Visitors have joined us from most of the 50 states and as far as Australia. Curious about what some of your favorite things have been about on SchoolBuild? Check out our most popular content below:

Top Ten Most Popular Articles

• Determine Criteria for Site Selection
• Pre-Construction Activities
• Components of a Capital Budget
• Prepare Construction Documents
• Develop Project Yourself or Partner with a Developer
• Assessing your Space Needs
• Payment During the Construction Process
• Building a Preliminary Capital Budget
• How to Apply for a Loan
• How to Select a General Contractor

Top Ten Downloadable Resources

• Site Options
• Needs Assessment Worksheet
• Planning and Scheduling Worksheet
• Project Sources and Uses
• Managing Construction Risk
• Red Flags Mitigating Risks
• Purchase vs. Lease
• Types of Lenders
• Financing Evaluation Worksheet
• Project Delivery Options: Pros and Cons

Most Popular Articles by LISC

• COVID-19 Resources for Charter Schools
• Modifying your Charter School Facility Plan Mitigate the Impact of COVID-19 
• Develop the Project Yourself or Partner with a Developer
• Different Models Different Needs
• Back to School Remote Learning Resources for Charter Schools

We want to start by sending a sincere thank you to all the organizations that have helped make SchoolBuild possible, especially those who have partnered with us over the last year.

As we look to the future, the SchoolBuild team will continue to amplify the best practice resources from across the sector. In 2021 our audience can expect more webinars, blog posts, original content, an update of our Project Cost Calculator and more information about our plans to refresh our 2015 Bond Study. We hope you will continue along with us on this journey!