Tag Archives: Getting Smart

Over the past 120 days, we’ve conducted tours of over 50 high schools in more than 1,000 classrooms across various cities including Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Northern Colorado, Kansas City, Twin Cities, Pittsburgh, and San Diego. These schools were purposefully selected for their dedication to real world learning, positioning them at the forefront of innovativeContinue reading “The State of the American High School in 2024”

Microschools, while not a new concept, are currently garnering increasing attention as an educational innovation. Microschools are small learning environments with typically less than 150 students that offer personalized and student-centered learning experiences. Teachers hungry for more autonomy, families seeking personalized learning, and the constraints of education budgets are all fueling the demand for microschools.Continue reading “Small Schools, Big Umbrella: Expanding, Defining and Scaling the Microschool Ecosystem”

By: Lizette Valles Recently, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, served as a vibrant venue for the first-ever International Micro School Conference hosted by Microschools.com, Mysa, and Prenda. This event gathered a global community of microschool leaders, educators, researchers, social entrepreneurs, and innovators, all sharing a common goal: to exploreContinue reading “Microschools with a World Vision: Insights from the First International Micro School Conference”

For the last five years, Kansas City educators have been visiting high schools across the country in search of great examples of real world learning including client projects, entrepreneurial experiences, internships, college credits, and industry recognized credentials.  Last month, a group of principals visited rural, suburban and urban Chicagoland high schools featuring real world learningContinue reading “Real World Learning in Chicagoland Pathways”

By: Whitney Emke There’s been a lot of talk lately about how things like screen time and pandemic-driven lockdowns are impacting children’s mental health and creating an “anxious generation.” What we haven’t heard nearly enough about, though, is what can happen when teachers and school leaders let students lead their own learning experiences that criticallyContinue reading “‘Anxious’ Generation? More Like ‘Action’ Generation: America’s Students Are Building a Better World”

Fundamentally, a microschool can be located anywhere. These nimble schooling models, while at the forefront of current education innovation, are a return to education at its most elemental. Microschools are a modern iteration of the age-old one-room schoolhouse concept, where small groups of students engage in often personalized and experience-based learning experiences. These schools oftenContinue reading “Where Seldom is Heard a Discouraging Word: Farm-based Microschools”

By Tyler Thigpen  Join me in a thought experiment where we envision creating a school focused on cultivating dependent students. Yes, you read that correctly—dependent learners who rely heavily on others for guidance and decision-making. While this concept might initially strike us as unsettling, let’s temporarily set aside our judgments and explore how such aContinue reading “Building Better Schools: The art of leading change in education”

By: Seth Kannarr When we consider taking a vacation, we often make plans to visit our national parks. Whether it is the nostalgia from family road trips growing up, or just a desire to escape our daily routine and reconnect with the outdoors, over 300 million Americans travel to the 429 units managed by theContinue reading “Five Reasons to Bring Our National Parks into the Classroom”

Youth violence causes death and injury. Homicide is the third leading cause of death among young people aged 10 to 24.  Every day, approximately 12 young people are homicide victims, and nearly 1,400 are treated in emergency rooms for nonfatal assault-related injuries. Youth violence is expensive. According to Federal Data on Youth, “Youth homicides andContinue reading “The Power Of Peace Project: Healing Wounded Communities”

By: Erin Whalen As school builders, how do we best minimize blindspots, respond to inequities, and create universally designed spaces that account for the diverse array of lived experiences within our schools?  By building from the margins, or redesigning in deep consideration of the most underserved, we have the opportunity to create empowering schools thatContinue reading “Tips and Tools for Equitable and Sustainable School Design”