(co)lab – Tomorrow’s Best High Schools will look like The New School!

We spent September 22-23 at co(lab): The Collaborative Leadership Summit, which brought to Atlanta some of the world’s most innovative and influential thinkers on education. Tony Wagner (whose Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World, inspired us as we first started imagining The New School), Sir Ken Robinson (check out his TED talks on our Inspirations page) and a host of other educational thought leaders all brought home a similar message: the education that 99.9% of our schools provide today is not fostering young people’s creativity, collaboration, innovation, curiosity, entrepreneurship, or flexible critical thinking skills. But these are the very survival skills our kids need to live successful, fulfilling lives in 2013 and beyond.

High Schools Teaching (co)lab Skills

How can schools teach these skills? The consensus at (co)lab centered around 4 key points. First, project-based learning: getting kids doing real, challenging, meaningful work, that matters to them and to their communities. Next, exposing students to entrepreneurial thinking and extended internships. Also, moving away from the testing culture that permeates our schools, and toward a more authentic performance-based assessment. Finally, getting kids to work collaboratively, with master teachers guiding them through an integrated curriculum, where students are encouraged to see connections as opposed to divisions.

That those four areas of focus describe our curriculum at The New School confirms to us that we’re on the right track.

This coming August, the next big thing in education is coming to Atlanta. Learn more at one of our Parent Information Sessions, which we’re holding on October 29, November 13, and December 5. All at our new home, 1015 Edgewood Avenue, in Inman Park. Send an e-mail at peter@newschool2016.wpengine.com to let us know you’re planning on coming.