With performance pressures mounting, budgets shrinking and health related concerns on the rise, schools across the country are looking for creative learning solutions, cost-savings and environmental benefits.

Students Need a Healthy Environment

Chalk dust had become a health problem at the Warren-Prescott School in Charlestown, Mass., and the school initially turned to melamine boards as a solution to resurface their chalkboards. The teachers found that after a short time, the surface became essentially unusable due to ghosting and poor performance. Within weeks, over 800 square feet of IdeaPaint — a product that can turn almost any paintable surface in the classroom into a high-performance dry-erase canvas — had been installed across multiple classrooms to do away with the melamine boards and resurface the chalkboards underneath.

The American Lung Association reports that one in ten school-aged children has or will develop asthma. The American Academy of Allergy & Immunology (AAAI) asserts that chalk dust from chalkboards is an irritant and asthma trigger, and recommends that children with asthma stay away as much as possible and wash their hands frequently. Switching from chalkboards to IdeaPaint surfaces helps schools protect their students and teachers with allergies and asthma, and keeps chalk dust from damaging electronics.

Innovation All Around

Besides the health benefits, there are virtually no boundaries with IdeaPaint. Unlike the confined space of a traditional whiteboard or chalkboard, entire walls can be painted to create a 360-degree learning environment. Desks, tables, doors, lockers and more can be transformed into writing platforms, providing teachers and students the space they need to demonstrate, collaborate, inspire and discover new ways of learning.

"The clear advantage in using IdeaPaint is the surface versatility,” said Scott Frost, an eighth grade math and science teacher at Warren-Prescott. “In my classroom all of the tables have an IdeaPaint surface. The impact on participation and learning was immediate.”

Making Sure Funds are Smartly Used

IdeaPaint is saving cash-strapped school districts considerable budget that can be directly applied to teacher salaries, technology and other needs. Don Carney, assistant director of operations and maintenance for the Mat-Su Borough School District based in Palmer, Ala. reported that resurfacing old whiteboards and chalkboards with IdeaPaint saved the district about 66 percent in purchase, installation, upkeep and replacement costs — a total savings of about $650,000 over two years.

IdeaPaint made it possible for the math department at Milford High School in Massachusetts to integrate new LCD projector technology into 13 classrooms. The school’s toughest challenge wasn’t affording the projectors, training teachers or maintaining the technology, but making them operational in each of the classrooms. Installing new porcelain whiteboards to serve as the “screen” in each room was cost prohibitive. As an affordable and sustainable solution, the school resurfaced existing chalkboards with IdeaPaint.

Good for You, Good for the Environment

IdeaPaint is one of the most environmentally friendly dry-erase products on the market and helps create healthier classroom interiors. Its dry-erase product families, including PRO and CRE-8, have been recognized with GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality and Children & Schools certifications, signifying the products have been screened for more than 10,000 chemicals.  IdeaPaint exceeds criteria outlined in the most stringent LEED emissions standards (< 500 ug/m3), California’s Section 01350 Standards, and can be used to show compliance to IEQ Credit 4.2 in LEED for Schools, New Construction, Core & Shell, Retail or Commercial Interiors. Unlike most dry-erase surfaces, IdeaPaint is formaldehyde free.

IdeaPaint is a sustainable and energy-efficient solution for schools:

• IdeaPaint can be painted directly over poor-functioning whiteboards and chalkboards, saving worn out whiteboards and chalkboards from entering landfills where they never break down.
• While traditional dry-erase boards require baking and curing procedures that consume large amounts of energy, IdeaPaint is simply stirred.
• Less material and fuel is required to package and ship IdeaPaint than large boards.  IdeaPaint weighs 60 pounds less than whiteboards of equal size.
• No valuable raw materials (wood, steel, aluminum, vinyl or resin) typically found in other dry-erase products are used.