By Jacqueline Westerfield, Grandview Preparatory School, Head of School Our world is changing by the second. Each day, we race to catch up with mounting responsibilities, media streams, and new projects. As a school leader, I recently joined colleagues from across the globe at Columbia University to work extensively on exploring one big pressing question: … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Innovation
Passion Projects 2.0
Projects and passions come alive at Grandview Preparatory School. As part of the school’s Innovation Track, students in Grades 3 – 12 have the opportunity to participate in and create a student-led, passion-based project. Through this process, students are encouraged to explore their own interests and consider projects outside of the traditional classroom environment. With … Continue reading
Top Grandview Moments of 2015
As 2016 begins, we would like to reflect on some of our best Grandview moments from last year. Here are our Top Grandview Moments of 2015– in no particular order: GRANDVIEW ROBOTICS SPARKS TECH-LEARNING AT GPS In January 2015, our Grandview Robotics Team participated in the FIRST LEGO League World Class Challenges. The addition of Robotics to the Grandview curriculum … Continue reading
Innovation Students Participate in Cross-Divisional Field Trip
One of the many benefits of a small school is the ability for students to interact across divisions. The latest Innovation Program field trip took advantage of this; at the Museum of Discovery and Science (MODS) in Ft. Lauderdale, middle and upper school students collaborated with lower school buddies to complete a scavenger hunt throughout … Continue reading
Innovation Program Thrives in First Year
An algae biofuel run engine, a state of the art music studio, two beach volleyball courts, and an equal rights club for gender marginalized individuals…what do they all have in common? They are the “Passion Projects” for the new Innovation Program at Grandview Preparatory School. Launched in January as a pilot program, the 2015-2016 academic … Continue reading
Grandview Joins the Maker Movement
The Maker Movement is a growing trend across the nation and the world that takes the philosophy of “learning by doing” to another level. The idea is that students learn more from tinkering, creating, designing, and building– and this learning is active, engaging, and innovative. The learning taking place from “making” is precisely the type of … Continue reading
Physics Students Compete in Grandview Regatta
Broadly speaking, the goal of physics is to understand how the universe behaves. It is fitting, then, that physics students should not be contained inside the walls of a classroom. Physics students at Grandview Preparatory School spend time building catapults, slingshots, and kites (and soon, gliders!). Their newest project: building a boat to compete in … Continue reading
School and The Aha Moment: Making Way for Good Ideas
Originally posted on It's All About the View:
The purpose of attending school is to learn. Learning is about skills and ideas. Each school, according to its mission, cultivates different types of learning. Some concentrate on college-level content, others: skills, and more recently, some are now making more room in the curriculum for creativity.…
One Size Fits None: Why Educational Standardization Doesn’t Fit and What We Should Do About It
Originally posted on It's All About the View:
Trends, by definition, come and go. While the world of fashion revolves around this premise, the world of education needs a different foundation. For the last several decades, the valid push for accountability in schools has led to an unintentional disaster regarding student learning outcomes. Beginning…
Beyond the Moon in Education: ‘…not because it is easy, but because it is hard’
Originally posted on It's All About the View:
It has been nearly 45 years since we first landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. Say what you want about the 1960’s, but the one thing the decade most certainly got right was its ability to encourage children to dream big. Somewhere between JFK’s…