Educators at Day Creek Intermediate School realize that middle school is a unique moment in students’ academic, social and emotional lives. As Principal David Apodaca notes, “you have to respect the fact that this is a huge transition time in their lives … And if we don’t recognize that and respect that, then academic success… Continue Reading Building Character and Knowledge in Middle School
While science fairs may be a familiar sight at many schools, The Charter School of Wilmington’s Junior Research Project makes student research central to their high school experience. The whole school gets involved, providing a rigorous research course to students as sophomores, mentoring them throughout their junior year, and teaching additional workshops to help students… Continue Reading Students Making Science
In New Orleans, Louisiana, Lusher Charter School serves students in grades K-12 by integrating the arts across all grade levels and disciplines. As the school’s CEO puts it, “Lusher is a school where a student can come and thrive regardless of the level of their talents. We’ll use the arts when we’re happy, when we’re… Continue Reading Building Culture and Enriching Learning through Art
Teachers at Paramount School of Excellence (now called Paramount Brookside) in Indianapolis, Indiana enrich their lessons using a variety of on-site school features, including a planetarium, farm, and beehives. These unique features help students learn from the world around them. However, the key focus for educators at this K-8 charter school is on providing high-quality… Continue Reading Learning from the World Around Them
High school goes to college at Lorenzo Walker Technical High School, which shares a campus and a vision for success with its partner institution, Lorenzo Walker Technical College. Students travel from all over the county to attend Lorenzo Walker, where they take academically rigorous classes while also receiving professional training in 25 career programs. After… Continue Reading Bringing High School to College
Turning around a low-performing school is no easy task – and sustaining that turnaround over the years to come can be just as challenging. In this video, teachers and school leaders from Evergreen Elementary School in Spanaway, Washington explain how the implementation of a “No Excuses” model helped them improve and sustain their success over… Continue Reading No Excuses: Sustaining Success at a Former Turnaround School
Hearts and Minds features Pinewood Elementary School in Jenison, MI, a suburb of Grand Rapids, where teachers and staff found themselves dealing with extreme student behaviors that disrupted learning. When Principal Rachael Postle-Brown and her staff adopted a “Whole School” approach to supporting positive student behaviors, a host of benefits followed. The approach has… Continue Reading Hearts and Minds: Social-Emotional Learning Improves Content Learning
Teaching with Art and Heart highlights the resources a dedicated principal has secured for the 700-plus students in her rural South Carolina school, Skyland Elementary. For more than two decades, Dr. Carolyn Styles has created a thriving community of passionate educators and young scholars. In addition to identifying and remediating students’ educational gaps and… Continue Reading Teaching with Art and Heart: A Rural School Reaches the Whole Child
Still Making the Grade showcases the Brooklyn (NY) School for Global Scholars, P.S. 748. Originally designed as a district-based application school for gifted and talented students, P.S. 748 featured a self-created and evolving curriculum that used project-based learning and departmentalized, interdisciplinary learning to prepare global citizens for the future. It opened in 2010. Two… Continue Reading Still Making the Grade: From a G and T District School to a Top Neighborhood School
Game Changer tells the story of struggling White Street School in Springfield, MA, where “demographics” had been the steady explanation for low student achievement. Families were reluctant to send their children to a school were only 4% of fifth graders scored Proficient in any subject. In 2010, the State Education Department had singled the school… Continue Reading Game Changer: Educators Turn Around a “Failing” School