Why school redesign, and why now?

For more than a century, our schools have been shaped by an industrial-era design, sorting and ranking students and standardizing offerings in service of efficiency and compliance. While this model has succeeded at what it was built for in many ways, it has not succeeded for all learners and is insufficient for today's world. Engagement levels are alarmingly low, with fewer than half of K-12 students surveyed by Gallup reporting that they feel prepared for the future. Employers echo this concern, pointing to gaps in collaboration, adaptability, and critical thinking skills among young people entering the workforce.

At the same time, society is shifting at an unprecedented pace. Artificial intelligence, digital tools, and global interconnectedness are redefining the skills required to thrive in life, work, and citizenship. Learners need more than memorizing academic content: they need strong relationships, social-emotional awareness, critical thinking, problem-solving, and the ability to adapt to and utilize emerging technologies.

Many educators around the country are building this into their daily lessons, creating engaging projects and supporting learners as whole humans. However, the systems and structures within our schools are often not designed for this type of learning, with schedules that require learners to bounce from one discrete content area to another or where their learning is disconnected from the world around them.