BOSTON—As the number of Charter Schools grow and expand in Massachusetts, Stephen J. Furtado, Executive Director of the Global Learning Charter Public School, will speak about the real estate needs of Charter Schools at the Boston Real Estate Times’ annual Academic Facilities and Student Housing Summit on March 24, 2021.
Mr. Furtado will join Edward Adelman, Executive Director of Massachusetts State College Building Authority, at the summit—virtual this year.
“We’re thrilled to have Mr. Furtado as a speaker at our Academic Facilities Summit. This will the first time we will be discussing real estate needs of Charter Schools,” said Upendra Mishra, publisher of Boston Real Estate Times. “Mr. Furtado has overseen numerous new and renovation school building projects during his career.”
Since 1995, the Massachusetts charter public school sector has grown from an initial cohort of 15 schools to over 74 programmatically diverse schools across the state, according to Massachusetts Charter Public School Association.
To register for virtual zoom summit, please click here.
Under Mr. Furtado’s leadership, Global Learning Charter Public School, a tuition-free public charter school that currently services 500 students in grades 5-12, recently signed a new lease with the Diocese of Fall River to create a state-of-the-art STEAM campus in New Bedford, MA.
Mr. Furtado, PhD, is currently the Executive Director of the Global Learning Charter Public School. He began as the Director in 2009. Prior to this position he was the Superintendent of Schools in Somerset from 2001-2005 and Superintendent of Schools in Freetown-Lakeville from 2005-2008.
He is a graduate of Bridgewater receiving his Bachelor’s degree in 1973 and his Master’s in 1976. He received his doctorate in education administration in 1997. Mr. Furtado developed the first doctorate in education program at Simmons College and was a professor of practice in the education department until 2011.
He has overseen numerous new and renovation school building projects while serving as superintendent. He has been an adjunct professor at Bridgewater, Boston University and UMASS Dartmouth. He has presented at both international and national conferences on such topics as: teacher recruitment, education leadership and charter education. He is a member of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association and past member of their Board of Directors. He is a member of the Bridgewater State University chapter of Phi Delta Kappa and past president.
This is what you will learn at the summit:
- Inadequate Campus Capacity: To provide beds that meet social-distancing or quarantine safety standards, schools situated in urban areas have created temporary single bedrooms by renting rooms in nearby empty hotels. But as vaccinations continue, the hospitality industry will experience increased demand, making these rented beds no longer available. On-campus capacity will be inadequate to house all students in what would be ‘the new normal’.
- Returning Student Body: Students that did take virtual classes during quarantine closures will want to return to campus- what type of facilities and real estate will be needed to meet the changing demand?
- The Time to Start Is Now: New student resident halls take between two and three years from planning to occupancy, so the best time for institutions to begin evaluating their decisions and their available alternatives is today.
- Budgetary Constraints: Well-endowed institutions have the financial footing to either pay for or loan against a new residence hall, or to raise the needed amount of funds to support the new infrastructure. But how will schools with less secure financial footing afford it? How will institutions pay for these urgently needed student housing COVID-19 safety changes?
- Accounting for Future Students’ Needs: As the priorities of subsequent generations change, the future of student housing should adjust accordingly: the preferred living arrangements of students include security, equity in ethnic diversity and gender, a balance between private spaces that foster independence and larger spaces that encourage social mixing and bonding, and sustainability in the face of a changing climate.
- Balancing Students’ Needs Against Budgetary Necessity: Administrations have to balance the desired student experience with the very real limitations of budgets and schedules, both of which must be optimized to fit within project constraints.
- Goodbye, Roommates: Necessitated by the COVID-19 crisis, single rooms are becoming the rule. Suites with contained bathrooms and kitchens provide the highest degree of safety from the hazards of group toilets and dining, where social distancing is not always possible.
Here the schedule of the academic real estate summit:
Date: March 24, 2021
Time: 9:30 am to 11:00 am
Venue: Zoom (links will emailed to you after you register.)
