Office Depot, Inc. Works with Educators to Bring Collaborative Classroom Design Elements to Middle and High School Classes

In Partnership with Education Services Center Region 11 in Texas, Collaborative, Flexible Learning Environments Better Prepare Students for the Future

The Innovation Solution Classroom at Region 11 (Photo: Office Depot, Inc. & Wade Griffith)

BOCA RATON, Fla.--()--Office Depot, Inc. (NASDAQ: ODP), a leading global provider of office products, services, and solutions, through its Office Depot and OfficeMax brands, today announced that its “Committed to Learning” education experts are working with the Education Service Center (ESC) Region 11 in north Texas to give teachers hands-on experiences with designing classrooms with new technology and furniture that can help individualize future-ready learning for every child.

The resulting solution, a collaboration between Office Depot and ESC Region 11, is called The Innovative Solutions Classroom, a high impact learning environment that is designed to stimulate learning and support the changing needs of the classroom.

ESC Region 11 is one of 20 education service centers established by the Texas State Legislature to provide professional development, technical assistance, and management of educational programs. ESC Region 11 serves 77 public school districts and 53 charter campuses in a 10-county area in north central Texas, and includes 67,940 educators and more than 556,895 students. Through ESC Region 11, Office Depot will help support the development of new classroom design across these 130 school districts and charters.

Much has been said about the ongoing and dramatic evolution that technology and digital learning are bringing to the classroom. These new paths for collaborative learning have changed the core of activity and needs for the classroom space. The unintended impact of this shift is that teachers are now faced with the need for flexible furniture – and a wide array of new options for the classroom space.

Recognizing the need to provide educators with guidance, Office Depot assembled an experienced team of education experts in Texas that partnered with ESC Region 11 staff to create a collaborative classroom design initiative.

“This partnership with Office Depot has been a long time coming,” said Teela Watson, director of digital learning for ESC Region 11. “We spent the better part of a year researching vendors and solutions that would best meet our needs and the needs of students and teachers in the classroom. It was definitely worth the wait, however, because we found that Office Depot had great solutions for utilizing the combination of ideal learning space and technology for optimal results.”

Recent research has confirmed the profound impact the classroom environment can have on student performance. Collaborative classroom spaces and the classroom environment have been found to impact up to 20 percent of the variance in student learning.1

"We understand that the pedagogical methodologies utilized within a classroom are the keys to building an innovative physical environment filled with furniture and technology in which a student will grow and thrive,” said Becki Schwietz, senior director of K-12 initiatives for Office Depot, Inc. "Our hope is to continue to partner with our K12 stakeholders to create and develop destination environments where our students experience ‘real life’ learning."

Office Depot’s “Committed to Learning” initiative has led the company to convene a national team of education experts and partners across disciplines. In developing this team, the company continues to invest in district leaders and administrators in addition to key innovation partners. Beyond Office Depot’s internal team, the company is forging partnerships with thought leaders in the industry to focus on early literacy, cognitive computing, entrepreneurship, project-based learning, and innovative learning spaces.

Learn more about Office Depot’s education solutions here.

1 P.S.Barrett, Y. Zhang, J. Moffat and K.Kobbacy (2012). "A holistic, multi-level analysis identifying the impact of classroom design on pupils' learning." Building and Environment.

About Office Depot, Inc.

Office Depot, Inc. is a leading global provider of products, services, and solutions for every workplace – whether your workplace is an office, home, school or car.

Office Depot, Inc. is a resource and a catalyst to help customers work better. We are a single source for everything customers need to be more productive, including the latest technology, core office supplies, print and document services, business services, facilities products, furniture, and school essentials.

The company has annual sales of approximately $16 billion, employs approximately 56,000 associates, and serves consumers and businesses in 59 countries with approximately 1,800 retail stores, award-winning e-commerce sites and a dedicated business-to-business sales organization – all delivered through a global network of wholly owned operations, franchisees, licensees and alliance partners. The company operates under several banner brands including Office Depot, OfficeMax, Grand & Toy, and Viking. The company’s portfolio of exclusive product brands include TUL, Foray, Brenton Studio, Ativa, WorkPro, Realspace and HighMark.

Office Depot, Inc.’s common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol ODP. Additional press information can be found at: http://news.officedepot.com.

About Region 11

ESC Region 11 is one of 20 education service centers established by the Texas State Legislature to provide professional development, technical assistance, and management of educational programs. ESC Region 11 serves 77 public school districts and 53 charter campuses in a 10-county area in north central Texas, and includes 67,940 educators and more than 556,895 students.

Contacts

Julianne Embry
Office Depot, Inc.
561.438.1451
julianne.embry@officedepot.com

or

Abby Van Uum
Edelman
512.200.5341
abigail.vanuum@edelman.com

Release Summary

Office Depot, Inc. works with educators to bring collaborative classroom design elements to middle and high school classes.

Contacts

Julianne Embry
Office Depot, Inc.
561.438.1451
julianne.embry@officedepot.com

or

Abby Van Uum
Edelman
512.200.5341
abigail.vanuum@edelman.com