November 7, 2025 | Online Conference
School Planning Summit

Photo credit: WXY/Albert Vecerka

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The APA Public Schools + Communities Division would like to thank all the participants, speakers, sponsors and volunteers who made the November 7 APA School Planning Summit a success. More than 200 participants across 30 states joined us for APA’s first conference dedicated to school planning. We covered a lot of ground through 11 educational sessions offering 12.75 AICP CM credits and 3 informal lunchtime chats.  

If you registered for the conference, you can now watch all the recorded sessions by logging into the portal below.

If you did not register for the conference, on-demand access to the recorded sessions will be available soon by purchasing the APA School Planning Summit On-Demand Package. More details coming soon!


Conference Program

Download the PDF of the Conference Program HERE

The APA School Planning Summit featured 11 educational sessions offering 12.75 AICP CM credits across 3 tracks:

TRACK 1: Schools + Communities
TRACK 2: School Facility Trends
TRACK 3: School Planning + Policies

WELCOME: Introductory Remarks

10:00 am – 10:15 am CST

ADAM LUBINSKY, PhD, AICP

Chair, APA Public Schools + Communities Division / Principal, WXY / Associate Professor of Professional Practice, Columbia University GSAPP

1

Student-Led Planning: Facilities, Playgrounds, and Safe Routes, Oh My!

10:15 am – 11:30 am CST

CM Credits: 1.25 | #9320008

KAREN SUMMERVILLE

Director of Communications & Public Engagement, Brailsford & Dunlavey

CORDELL BOCK, AICP

Planner II, Albuquerque Public Schools

DANIELLE DENK

Community Schoolyards Initiative Director, Trust for Public Land

CHARLOTTE ROED, AICP (MODERATOR)

Senior Associate, Brailsford & Dunlavey (MODERATOR)

2

The Great School Reshuffle: Schools as Levers for Integrated Development

10:15 am – 11:30 am CST

CM Credits: 1.25 | #9320183

KELLY MURPHY, AICP

Senior Director of Real Estate Services, NYC School Construction Authority

LAUREN ALGER, PE, ENV SP

VP, Director of Sustainable Design, STV

ROBIN O’HARA, LE Fellow, REFP

Senior Planner, Montgomery County Public Schools

LISA DESFOSSES, MBA, MEd

Managing Member, I+C Consulting, LLC Charter School Finance & Real Estate

VERONICA CHUAH, AICP (MODERATOR)

Senior Real Estate Manager, NYC School Construction Authority

3

Fostering Diverse Schools

10:15 am – 11:30 am CST

CM Credits: 1.25 Eq: 1 | #9320184

CHRIS RICE, AICP

Associate Principal, WXY

KAMAR SAMUELS

Superintendent, Manhattan Community School District 3, NYC Public Schools

MEGHAN DUNN

Superintendent, Brooklyn Community School District 13, NYC Public Schools

EFFIE McMILLIAN

Chief of Staff and Strategic Planning, Winston Salem/Forsythe County School System

HALLEY POTTER (MODERATOR)

Director of PK-12 Education Policy and Senior Fellow, Century Foundation (MODERATOR)

1

Communities Leading Schools: Insights from Cincinnati and San Diego

11:35 am – 12:50 pm CST

CM Credits: 1.25 | #9320185

ADRIANA CHAVARÍN-LÓPEZ, Ed.L.D.

Co-Founder and CEO, Sabbaticalize

ADELYN STROUP

Director of Strategic Initiatives, Community Learning Center Institute

MICHAEL VEA, Ed.L.D.

Partner, School Design at Transcend

2

Addressing the Challenges of School Closures

11:35 am – 12:50 pm CST

CM Credits: 1.25 | #9320189

CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS

Director of Planning, Pasco County Public Schools (FL)

GARET STEEL PRIOR

Senior Policy Advisor on Infrastructure, Multnomah County (OR)

ARIEL BIERBAUM, MCP, PhD

Associate Professor of Urban Studies and Planning, University of Maryland

SHANNON JAAX, AICP (MODERATOR)

Chair Elect, APA Public Schools + Communities Division / Founder, Jaax Street Partners

3

Transportation Solutions: Call to Action for Planning Practitioners

11:35 am – 12:50 pm CST

CM Credits: 1.25 | #9320190

KAI MONAST, PhD

PhD Associate Director, NC State University—Institute for Transportation Research & Education

JONAH FREEDMAN

Program Manager—Bicycle and Pedestrian Group, NC State University—Institute for Transportation Research & Education

KEVIN R. HART

TIMS Project Leader, NC State University—Institute for Transportation Research & Education

BRIAN STARK GODFREY

Land Use Planner—OREd (Land Use and Student Enrollment), NC State University—Institute for Transportation Research & Education

MATHEW PALMER (MODERATOR)

Project Director—School & Community Aligned Master Planning, NC State University—Institute for Transportation Research & Education

Lunchtime: “Preparing for the Planning Job Market”

12:55 pm – 1:40 pm CST

MICHAELA TSAPATSARIS

Cornell University student

ANNIKA NINA MARTELINA YU

Columbia University MSUP ‘26

SHANNON ONLAM HUI

Columbia University MSUP ‘25

No Recording

Lunchtime: “Equal Access to Schools: Challenges and Strategies”

12:55 pm – 1:40 pm CST

TIM DEROCHE

President, Available to All

SARALEE L. MORRISSEY, FAICP

Founder, Saralee Morrissey Consulting and Immediate Past Chair, APA Public Schools + Communities Division

No Recording

Lunchtime: “Reimagining Safe Routes to Schools for Teens”

12:55 pm – 1:40 pm CST

KATHERINE SHOR

Senior Planner, Town of Chapel Hill, NC

ALYSON WEST

Safe Routes to School Coordinator, Town of Chapel Hill, NC

No Recording
1

Housing Solutions for Educators

1:45 pm – 3:00 pm CST

CM Credits: 1.25 | #9320191

RICHARD BARRERA

Trustee, San Diego Unified School District and Deputy Superintendent/Senior Policy Adviser, California Department of Education

VAN SCHOALES

Senior Policy Director, Keystone Policy Center

TRINITY DAVIS, PhD

President and Founder, Teachers Like Me

KWAME SPEARMAN

Educational Housing Consultant, Keystone Policy Center

SARA HINKLEY (MODERATOR)

California Program Manager, Center for Cities + Schools

2

Building Tomorrow’s Schools Today: Sustainability Implementation Meets Financial Feasibility

1:45 pm – 3:00 pm CST

CM Credits: 1.25 | #9320192

HANNAH PRESS

Assistant Project Manager, Brailsford & Dunlavey

STEPHANIE SEIDMON

Program Director, UndauntedK12

PRANITA RANBHISE

Director of Planning, Oakland Unified School District (CA)

SHAWN A. MATLOCK, Esq.

Director of the Office of Alternative Infrastructure, Planning and Development, Prince George’s County Public Schools

DAVE KARLSGODT (MODERATOR)

Vice President, Infrastructure, Energy and Sustainability, Brailsford & Dunlavey

3

Shrinking and Growing: Innovative Approaches to Enrollment Projections

1:45 pm – 3:00 pm CST

CM Credits: 1.25 | #9320193

SARAH BRASHEAR

Director of School Planning, DC Public Schools

MARIO GIAMPIERI

Senior Associate, WXY

TOM MOORE

Demographer, Orange County Public Schools (FL)

DARE BRAWLEY (MODERATOR)

Associate, WXY

1

No panel planned. Please attend Track 2 or Track 3

3:05 pm – 3:50 pm CST

2

National Center on School Infrastructure (NCSI): Exploring Best Practices in Educational Facility Master Planning

3:05 pm – 3:50 pm CST

CM Credits: 0.75 | #9320194

JEFF VINCENT

Director, National Center on School Infrastructure

BILL SAVIDGE

Planning Consultant, National Center on School Infrastructure

3

Building the Case for Federal Investments in Our Public Schools: Policy & Advocacy Deep Dive

3:05 pm – 3:50 pm CST

CM Credits: 0.75 | #9320195

ALLY TALCOTT

Executive Director, Build America’s School Infrastructure Coalition

DAVID STURTZ

Founder & CEO, Sturtz & Company

CLOSING: Final Remarks

3:50 pm – 4:00 pm CST

SHANNON JAAX, AICP

Chair Elect, APA Public Schools + Communities Division / Founder, Jaax Street Partners


Who Should Attend

  • School district staff and board members
  • Planning professionals working with (or aspire to work with) school districts 
  • K-12 design professionals who want to broaden their thinking
  • Local elected officials 
  • Researchers and scholars including those who study schools, neighborhoods and communities
  • Students of urban planning


▶ Transformational Leaders


▶ Educational Visionaries


▶ Knowledge Architects


Partners

We are also offering partnership opportunities for academic institutions and school-related
nonprofit organizations that help promote/advertise the conference via their social media and
contacts will be highlighted on the website and during the conference. If you are interested,
please reach out to Adam Lubinsky.

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