ABSTRACT
In the past decade, there has been a growing body of literature on the concepts of alternative schools, free schools, open schools, and non-graded schools. Unfortunately, there has been little documentation of the process by which these educational options have been accepted and implemented in individual schools. This chapter focuses on a strategy for developing an alternative school and on techniques which can facilitate the planning process. The process began when the board members of the Wallace O’Neal Day School, a newly formed private school in Pinehurst, North Carolina, developed a long-range building plan which included a new facility for a proposed kindergarten-through-ninth-grade program. The Moore County Public School System, which includes the Pinehurst-Southern Pines area, is in many ways one of the most progressive in North Carolina. The planning team for the charrette consisted of William Laslett, the project architect, and members of his staff.
