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22 <br /> i) Pre-School Area (Elementary Level) <br /> NC Public Schools Facilities Guidelines recommend 1,200 to 1,400 square <br /> feet for pre-kindergarten classrooms. Orange County Standards allow for <br /> one classroom for pre-kindergarten children ages three and four at 1,700 <br /> square feet. <br /> ii) Special Needs Classrooms (All Levels) <br /> Programs for exceptional children vary greatly, depending on age of children <br /> and local factors. Additional support spaces may be necessary for <br /> exceptional education purposes depending on the program. Specialized <br /> spaces, such as cooking areas, toilets, bath/shower rooms, laundries, <br /> observation rooms, and special equipment to accommodate certain <br /> disabilities may be required. <br /> iii) Remediation and Resource Labs (All Levels) — School plans should <br /> include one or more small group classrooms for remediation, conferences, <br /> guidance and testing for groups. Smaller group activities may require <br /> additional smaller rooms. <br /> iv) Instrumental and Vocal Classrooms (High School Level) — Student <br /> participation for these programs is often high — it is not unusual for the <br /> number of students in these classrooms to range between 40 and 80. <br /> Orange County Standards provide for a range of 2,800 to 6,600 square feet <br /> for these two classrooms (not including storage). <br /> v) Dance Classroom (High School Level) — Dressing rooms and access to <br /> showers for dance students are desirable in high schools. If located adjacent <br /> to the gymnasium locker rooms, this space can be combined. Orange County <br /> Standards for this function range from 1,800 to 2,000 square feet. <br /> vi) Workforce Development (Middle and High School Levels) — Facilities for <br /> high school, workforce development programs are often large, extensively <br /> equipped and more expensive than regular classrooms because of their <br /> similarity to industry. Square footage included in Appendices 1B and 1C <br /> parallels the State Guidelines. In accordance with State statutes, a basic high <br /> school vocational education program must offer at least three of the workforce <br /> development programs. Many high schools offer all seven programs <br /> including agricultural, health occupations, business, family and consumer <br /> sciences, marketing, technology, and trade and industrial. The number and <br /> types of laboratories depend on local factors. More than one laboratory for a <br /> program such as family and consumer sciences education may be necessary <br /> in larger schools. Another factor to consider is the co-use of the darkroom of <br /> a school. A larger-than-standard darkroom with additional storage could <br /> serve art and science programs as well as workforce development programs. <br /> Existing County high school standards allow for offering all seven programs <br /> 9 <br />