- Dozens of American schools are attacked by gunmen every year
- New and renovated schools add security elements to stop them
- Include hallway coverage, self-closing doors, and improved visibility for staff.
American schools are being radically redesigned to prevent mass shootings and stop gunmen if they enter.
The doors magnet shut with the press of a phone key, every window and door has bullet-resistant glass film, and there are panic buttons everywhere.
The once straight-line hallways curve to reduce the shooter’s line of sight and ‘wing walls’ just to the sides provide cover for police and students.
These hallways are made of thick concrete blocks so that a gunman cannot shoot through them into classrooms, as has happened in some school shootings.
Inside the renovated Fruitpoint High School in Michigan: a model for the new world of American schools designed to prevent mass shootings
Lockers are moved from hallways to large open-plan areas where students can be under the watchful eye of teachers at all times, but also provide cover.
All classroom doors have locks and are positioned so that there is a “shadow area” of the room that a shooter could not see from the entrance and in which students can hide.
Some schools are also trying to design windows in ground-floor classrooms that can be easily opened so students can escape.
Blinds can also be quickly lowered to prevent a shooter outside the building from being able to see or shoot inside.
Lockers are moved from hallways to large, open areas where students can be under the watchful eye of teachers at all times.
All classroom doors have locks and are positioned so that there is a “shadow area” of the room that a shooter could not see from the entrance and in which students can hide.
The interior of the classroom with the position of the doors shown here.
However, the lockers are also positioned so that they are short enough that teachers can see students using them, but tall enough to hide behind in a shootout.
Entry points were also redesigned to control access, starting with fewer entry points and a door that can be closed during school hours.
An intruder would then have to pass through multiple layers of security before reaching a central reception roundabout.
The once straight-line hallways curve to reduce the shooter’s line of sight and ‘wing walls’ just to the sides provide cover for police and students.
A school official shows off the wing walls on a tour after the school was built.
This desk has an easy line of sight to the entrance, so you can see the shooter coming from a great distance, even if you shoot your way through him.
A model for this approach is Fruitport High School in Fruitpoint, Michigan, near Grand Rapids, which underwent a $50 million redesign and opened in 2021.
TowerPinkster architects’ design incorporated most of these features that are becoming standard in all newly built and renovated American schools.