This report describes new and innovative approaches to school facilities as they relate to their communities by exploring the trends towards smaller schools, presenting the pros and cons of smaller schools, and examining the solutions and strategies in smart growth planning. The report addresses the following questions: if school leaders, communities and other groups elect to pursue a goal of building smaller schools, what factors should be considered? if small schools are usually more expensive to construct and operate, how can we improve the economics of constructing and operating them? and how and who should be involved in planning them? Concluding sections contain links and references where stakeholders can obtain in-depth material on these subjects. (Contains 60 references.) (GR)