Why natural light in classrooms is important for student learning, well-being

May 01, 2025 at 13:25 PM EDT

(BPT) - Imagine spending your entire work day, every day, in a windowless room, with only artificial light to illuminate your space. It's not an inspiring, motivating or pleasant place to spend hundreds of hours every month, yet for some American children - particularly those attending schools built in the 1960s and 1970s - this is an unfortunate reality. Windows were once seen as posing a distraction to children, and as such, were purposely eliminated from building designs.

Fortunately, times have changed, and the benefits of natural light and views to the outdoors are now well known. Physicians now believe that more interesting visual environments help to boost memory, cognitive development and even childhood eye development. Furthermore, spending more time with natural light has been shown to benefit mood, alertness, nighttime sleep quality and overall well-being.

Why natural light matters

In fact, natural light has been shown to enhance students' focus, improve test scores and even boost creativity. Even adults who work in offices with windows have been found to sleep better and be more physically active than those whose workplaces have no windows. Research has revealed that, all other things being equal, students in daylight-rich classrooms:

Are more motivated and engaged.¹
Score higher on standardized tests.²
Progress 20% faster in reading and math compared to students in classrooms with no windows or daylight.³

"I've spent my career researching the importance of natural light in our daily lives, and it's clear that there's an immediate opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our students and teachers by adding more daylight into buildings," said Lisa Heschong, architect and founding principal of the Heschong Mahone Group (HMG), a building sciences consulting firm. "I'm glad to see more efforts to not only benefit schools but also raise awareness on the importance of natural light in learning environments."

Windows of Opportunity

To help address this concern, a pilot project called Windows of Opportunity, spearheaded by Windex, brought more light into one elementary school's windowless classrooms, Eisenhower Elementary in Jacksonville, Illinois. The school is sparking further conversation about the importance of natural light for students' growth, development, focus and learning. It's clear that with windows in a classroom, students can really shine.

Before without windows and after with windows elementary school

According to a survey of Eisenhower Elementary teachers, 84% reported that student mood and overall well-being improved after installing the windows, while 93% reported a positive impact on their own mood and well-being. See the transformation firsthand in this video, where teachers and staff share how the upgraded windows have enhanced the school environment for everyone.

Windex is shining a light on this overlooked but important issue that continues to affect some students in schools across the country, and hopes to help motivate other parents and school districts to make similar changes in their buildings. In fact, Windex was so moved by the impact at Eisenhower and the positive response from consumers that it was inspired to do more. The brand is continuing to explore ways it can expand this project to other communities.

Brighter classrooms create brighter futures. Learn more about the Windows of Opportunity project by watching the YouTube video about Eisenhower Elementary.

[1] National Center for Education Statistics. (2002). The condition of education 2002 (NCES 2002-025). U.S. Department of Education.

[2] Sachs, H. M., Smith, S., & Kleisch, J. (2004). Promoting high-performance affordable housing: Strategies for program design (Paper presented at the 2004 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings). American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

[3] Fudge, S., Peters, M., & Woodman, N. (2016). Energy behaviour: The rise of the individual? University of Huddersfield.

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Why natural light in classrooms is important for student learning, well-being

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