How will the schools be different to support 21st century education?

1. The new and remodeled high schools are designed to support a more personalized learning process, and feature flexible, adaptable, and agile environments that support a variety of learning styles in a variety of learning settings which students and staff are able to shape and reshape according to the desired learning activity.
   
   
2. The new and remodeled high schools are organized into learning “neighborhoods” of roughly 200 students each, creating the opportunity for a small school experience and focused, interdisciplinary teams which share a variety of learning environments, including dedicated space for teachers to collaborate and plan outside of the classroom. They are designed to be flexible, and can be organized in different ways over time, to adapt easily to on-going changes in education.
   
   
3. The new and remodeled high schools are designed to celebrate career, technical, business, and STEAM education through a variety of career based programs and partnerships distributed throughout the learning facilities, as opposed to the traditional approach of relegating these programs at the back of the school. This approach invites the community to participate in the daily life of the schools and curriculum, and to increase relevancy.
   
   
4. The new and remodeled high schools are designed to address the physical and emotional needs of students by being safe, fully accessible, sustainable, comfortable, and aesthetically pleasing with an abundance of natural daylight, a place where students want to be.
   
   
5. The new and remodeled high schools will provide an integrated, technology rich environment that promotes learning anytime and anyplace with any device, key ingredients for success in the “global knowledge economy”.

21st Century Skills

• What is 21st Century Education (Video, EF Explore America, March 15, 2012)
• New Vision for Education: Unlocking the Potential of Technology (World Economic Forum, prepared in collaboration with The Boston Consulting Group)
• New Tech Schools and Student Achievement (Hanover Research, January, 2013)

21st Century Flexible Spaces

• How Flexible Learning Spaces Improve Active Learning (Dennis Pierse, eSchool News, July 19, 2016)
• Study Shows How Classroom Design Affects Student Learning (University of Salford Manchester)
• Classroom Design and Student Learning (Innova Design Solutions LTD)
• Using Flexible Learning Spaces to Foster Project-Based Learning (John Pfluger)
• Improved School Designs Can Boost Learning (MPR News, March 2013)