[2] The organizational models of schools fall into several main categories, including: departmental, integrative, project-based, academy, small learning communities, and school-within-a-school.
[3][4] This is reflected in the design of educational facilities with separate faculty buildings on a campus, or in a wing or cluster of standard classrooms or laboratories in a high school (e.g. science labs, vocational shops).
[6] Support spaces for instructors, such as offices or workrooms, and for students, such as seminar rooms and common workspaces, may also be located directly adjacent or nearby.
It involves independent research, real-world experiences, opportunities and requirements for students to present and defend their learning, to practice and rehearse.
This is reflected in the design of educational facilities appearing similar to the integrative model, but with a de-emphasis on traditional instructional spaces such as classrooms and labs, and a greater emphasis on student collaboration spaces and workspaces, such as individual study and group seminar rooms, and workspaces such as Makerspaces and rooms with 2D or 3D printing and production.
The Academy model is an organization first developed in 1969 that includes specific themes or grades-based organizational groupings within a single institution.
Teachers in the SLC usually have common planning time to foster collaboration, development of interdisciplinary projects, and to track progress of individual students across subjects.
These include several types, including: Theme-Based SLCs or Focus Schools, usually formed around a specific curricular theme, such as "Success Academy" or "Humanities"; grade-based SLCs or Houses, such as Freshman Academies which are structured to support students transitioning into higher-level schools; Career Academies, developed around a career theme or Career Clusters; Magnet Schools, career-themed SLCs that include accelerated course-work for Gifted & Talented students.