The School District of Philadelphia embarked on a $1.7 billion capital improvement program. The School Reform Commission (school board) commissioned a master plan to maximize the impact of proposed capital improvements.

The President of Athenian was selected as a member of the Counselors of Real Estate team to create the master plan. She served as deputy team leader for the project, which included senior real estate counselors from many parts of the U.S. A draft of the plan was presented to the School Reform Commission.

The master plan uses demographic analyses and mapping techniques to identify misalignments between current and projected school capacities, conditions, and their users.  It models a process for locating and prioritizing such misalignments, along with typical solutions ranked for effectiveness.  A further study shows how the master plan would work with specific sites.  Many of the principles discussed in the plan are now in use by the School District.