Design Features  
     
   
     
New Designs for Learning employs a unique framework to plan and describe a school's operation. The design-down process provides a structure for addressing a series of design elements, from learning context to learning finance, with each element building upon the previous element. This framework is used below to describe the features of the SES.

Learning Context

This element of the design framework focuses on the unique assets, problems, opportunities, and aspirations of the school under consideration. The resulting description is a set of design criteria, which serves to guide and monitor the development of the other elements in the design framework.

The design criteria for the SES are that the school:

  • Provides a coherent structure for curriculum and instruction,
  • Provides a strong academic background integrating discipline-based and interdisciplinary studies,
  • Partners with multiple organizations to extend authentic learning experiences into a variety of real-world experiences,
  • Enhances educational opportunities that are shaped by the needs and interests of the students,
  • Encourages intellectual and emotional risk-taking,
  • Models thoughtful, informed decision-making,
  • Provides an intimate and a personalized learning environment that enhances learning,
  • Encourages sustainable environmental actions,
  • Establishes an optional 11th and 12th grade high school that is voluntary for 400 students and 20 staff,
  • Includes all student ability groups,
  • Creates individual and group learning opportunities, and
  • Provides a model based upon best practices for others to replicate.
Students canoe the Cannon River for an outdoor interdisciplinary learning experience Students canoe the Cannon River for an outdoor interdisciplinary learning experience.
Learning Signature

The learning signature focuses on what is special and unique about the school in question. It includes consideration of mission, vision, values, and beliefs for the school and links them together in a compelling and highly meaningful signature for the school. Giving a school a special focus provides coherence, consistency, and spirit to the school, and thereby adds to the quality of the learning experience and accomplishments. For SES, the signature features include:
  • The "living wall" draws special attention to the environmental theme of the SES,
  • Plants, aquariums, terrariums, pictures, drawings, and paintings throughout the school enhance the environmental theme,
  • Open and flexible spaces throughout the school indicates that learning occurs "outside of the box,"
  • Student work stations, pods, and houses, represent the need for a personalized learning environment,
  • Displaying student projects reflects the value of authentic learning, and that student work is vital and relevant, and
  • Integrating the school with the outside environment lends itself to being part of, and enjoying, the natural beauty of the environment.
Learning Expectations

Learning expectations address what is promised in terms of learning results or goals for the school. The list of learning expectations represents the students' accomplishments as promised by the school in exchange for the public's investment in teaching and learning and the student's time and energy.

Learning results communicate what students are expected to learn at the SES. These include:

  • Understand leadership qualities and take on the role of a leader,
  • Be self-perpetuating learners,
  • Connect to the local and global community,
  • Be environmentally informed,
  • Work effectively in groups and independently,
  • Accept the responsibility that goes with freedom,
  • Use their own experiences to add meaning to learning,
  • Navigate and identify valuable resources,
  • Create work products that are meaningful and reflective of the real world,
  • Have the necessary skills for success in the 21st century, and
  • Experience success on local, state, and national educational standards.
A student project resulted in a finished bridge A student project resulted in a finished bridge. Students work with younger children to raise environmental awareness. Students work with younger children to raise environmental awareness.


Learning Process

The learning process consists of design specifications for the learning experiences that will result in the learning expectations noted above. The learning process also needs to address the design criteria describing the learning context for the school and strongly align with and reinforce the learning signature to give it meaning and authenticity.

The features of the learning process for SES:

  • Includes an interdisciplinary thematic framework that makes the necessary connections for students to study real world problems and issues,
  • Allows for discipline-only instruction where necessary,
  • Sets high expectations and standards of quality,
  • Creates an atmosphere where personalization rises to the top,
  • Establishes communities that value collaboration, flexibility, and respect,
  • Encourages a balance of teamed and independent learning opportunities,
  • Develops assessments that are authentic and/or performance-based in nature,
  • Values student input and allows students the opportunity to go along different pathways in seeking a solution to a question or problem,
  • Exemplifies student work products that reflect the world of work and are valued by the community,
  • Includes a set of foundation skills needed for all students to be successful in high school and as the students continue to learn throughout life,
  • Includes a systematic approach for students to meet local, state, and national educational standards, and
  • Takes place worldwide.
Learning Organization

Attention to the learning organization element results in a description of how time schedule, learners, staff, learning process, decision-making, technology, and learning settings are organized to best support the learning process described above. The organization of learning at SES is as follows:

Organization of Students

  • Grades 11 and 12 thematic studies are separated,
  • Inclusive of all student populations,
  • Randomly assigned to an individual work station and a pod,
  • Remain in an interdisciplinary thematic house for one half of the day with the same students and staff,
  • Learning occurs in a balanced team and independent environment,
  • Knowledge products are authentic and shared with outside community experts, and
  • Can take a class at the home high school if it is not offered at SES.
Organization of Time
  • A hybrid mixture of a 4 x 4 block includes components of a straight block (theme) and an AB Block (electives),
  • An opportunity exists for an every other day inquiry and discovery block where students select an independent project,
  • At the end of each trimester, a short period of time exists for intensive theme electives which includes field experiences to other locations,
  • Interdisciplinary thematic learning experiences vary in length each day,
  • Off site learning experiences can occur with the extended blocks of time,
  • Learning projects tend to be longer term in nature, and
  • Advanced placement (AP) opportunities exist within the thematic curriculum and outside of the thematic curriculum.
Organization of Learning Settings
  • A flexible and open environment allows for a variety of learning experiences,
  • Individual student work stations and pods create a personalized and intimate environment that lends itself to individual and teamed work,
  • House structure provides a unique and valuable space for interdisciplinary thematic instruction,
  • Forum is the hub of the SES community,
  • External environment is brought into SES through several glassed areas,
  • Immediate surrounding area is an opportunity to extend learning out into the field (e.g., ponds, forests, lakes),
  • Surrounding communities are valuable for students to connect with local experts and give back to the communities via student work products, and
  • Other learning locations in different parts of the world are visited either in person or via the Internet by SES students.
Students construct a nature trail through the woods on a site of the Minnesota Zoo. Students construct a nature trail through the woods on a site of the Minnesota Zoo.


Organization of the Learning Process
  • Supports a heterogeneous grouping of students,
  • Incorporates interdisciplinary thematic instruction for one half of the school day,
  • Includes discipline-only electives for the other half of the day that connect where possible to the thematic curriculum,
  • Supports individual and teamed work,
  • Uses assessments that are authentic and/or performance-based,
  • Allows for students work products that are demonstrated to community experts and are valued by the community,
  • Expects a set of foundation skills to be used by each and every student, and
  • Encourages students and staff to "think outside of the box."
Organization of Staff
  • Allows staff the opportunity to risk failure,
  • Accepting of staff consensus on issues for improvement and the day-to-day operations,
  • Depends upon each staff member to take a leadership role in an area of their expertise and to mentor other staff, and
  • Uses a peer review process to identify growth opportunities for staff.
Organization of Decision-making
  • Must place the highest priority on student interests and needs,
  • All decisions are in alignment with the vision, mission, and beliefs of SES,
  • Are supported by current research and best practices,
  • Occurs in an open dialogue with consensus needed to move forward, and
  • Values the input of the stakeholders (e.g., students, parents, staff, community members).
Learning Partnerships

The learning partnerships element of the design framework focuses on who is involved in making the learning organization and learning process work to achieve the learning expectations. An important consideration involving learning partnerships is identifying the many partners, both internal and external, that are involved. Partners for a school may include: families, business and industry, government, churches, community-based organizations and agencies, higher education institutions, school staff, students, alumni, senior citizens, funding sources, parent teacher association, neighboring schools, and state and regional educational agencies. The sharing of resources is a two-way process that includes not only external partners providing resources and services to the school, but also includes the school providing resources and services to the external partners.

Learning partnerships address the strategic alliances that the SES has put in place to achieve its mission and beliefs. These include:

  • The Minnesota Zoo is a critical partner not only for the generosity of donating the site for the school, but also for connecting staff and resources to the SES,
  • The City of Apple Valley is a vital partner for the bonds it generated to build the school, and the school is located in its jurisdiction,
  • The other communities that make up the school district are of great importance as SES students create work products in these communities,
  • Local business, industry, governmental agencies, and universities provide resources and a valuable network for SES to be a part of,
  • Site Councils that include parents, students, and staff play a key role in shaping the SES community,
  • An SES Foundation has formed and will provide additional resources for the school,
  • The partnerships formed with other schools and institutions around the nation and the world extend the learning opportunities of SES students, and
  • The day-to-day partnerships that exist between staff and students, and students and students, create a collaborative and dynamic learning environment.
Learning Staff and Staff Development

Learning staff includes all persons who have an impact on the learning experiences no matter where it takes place, within or outside the school. Learning staff can be thought about in terms of learning teams as well as individuals. Team members include students, administrators, teachers, office workers, support service personnel, aides, paraprofessionals, volunteers, mentors, and families.

SES teach Tom Goodwin (left) and Principal Tom Bodette (right) collaborate with Dr. Jane Goodall (center). SES teach Tom Goodwin (left) and Principal Tom Bodette (right) collaborate with Dr. Jane Goodall (center).

Learning staff development focuses on current and future needs, as well as consideration of who is in the best position to provide effective staff training.

The features of SES's staff and staff development activities include:

  • The focus is upon what is best for students and learning,
  • Staff members identify best practices and current research that will improve student learning,
  • A dialogue occurs where lead staff members can bring other staff "up to speed" in a particular area,
  • Continuous improvement leads to a growing and a dynamic community of staff and spreads to students,
  • The peer review supervision and evaluation system allows individual staff to identify and plan areas of individual growth,
  • Workshops, site visits, college courses, professional reading, researching, teaching to and presenting to others, are ways in which the staff grows personally and professionally,
  • Staff ownership of the school and the vision, mission, and beliefs of SES lead to a great sense of commitment,
  • Recognizing student and parent input, and incorporating their ideas into the school has been important to the school, and
  • Like the building, SES staff has been open and flexible and has thought "outside of the box" ideas and practices.
Common areas support either teacher-director or student-directed activities. Common areas support either teacher-director or student-directed activities.


Learning Environment

The learning environment includes a description of technology, equipment, and facilities. It extends well beyond the school building to include all of the learning settings used by learners (e.g., workplace, home, public library, postsecondary institutions, and community).

The learning environment at the SES includes the following features:

  • A personalized and intimate environment demonstrates care and compassion towards students and staff,
  • Openness and flexibility allow for a variety of learning experiences,
  • Adaptability of the learning spaces allows for unique learning experiences,
  • Individual work stations and pods create individual and teamed learning spaces and opportunities,
  • The house concept includes all student abilities with a variety of learning experiences and assessments that lead to a unique student work product, and is shared with an outside audience,
  • A sense of identity and community is formed through a unique building design,
  • The size (400 students) of the school lends itself for students and staff to know each other and work together on a rigorous curriculum with high standards and expectations,
  • The outside environment is easily seen and "taken in" throughout the building and provides an important context for the building,
  • Spaces for student work display exist throughout the building and send a message that students work products are important and should be on display for others to learn
  • Learning technology is readily available throughout the building, and
  • The climate and culture of the SES has developed in a positive fashion with a carefully chosen design supporting freedom and responsibility to occur naturally.
Learning Celebration

Learning celebration addresses the need to align incentives and recognition of process and success in learning accomplishment with the learning expectations noted earlier. Learning celebrations reinforce the features of all elements in the design framework, particularly the learning expectations and learning signature.

The learning celebrations at the SES have the following features:

  • Learning is celebrated on a day-to-day basis by students and staff for having a unique and innovative learning environment,
  • Student assemblies are used to celebrate a variety of activities or events happening in the school,
  • School socials have allowed students and parents the opportunity to celebrate the sense of community that occurs at the SES,
  • Newspaper and television reports recognize the achievements of the SES students and staff,
  • National articles detail and share the successes of the SES,
  • Being recognized by others (e.g., U.S. Department of Education, National Association of School Principals, American Institute of Architects) has created a sense of worth by staff and students, and
  • General visitor interest in the SES and the replication that occurs leads to a satisfaction that the SES has a significant influence around the country and the world.
Learning Finance

The learning finance element of the design framework includes costs and revenues for building and operating a school.

At SES, learning finance is described as follows:

  • SES was allotted the same square footage per student as the other 2,000 student high schools in the district,
  • SES had the same construction costs per square foot as the other 2,000 student high schools in the district,
  • SES has the same staffing ratio as the other 2,000 student high schools in the district,
  • SES has the same instructional budget allocation per student as the other 2,000 student high schools in the district,
  • SES has the same capital budget ratio as the other 2,000 student high schools in the district,
  • SES seeks external grant opportunities and gifts as a way to enhance the available resources for improving educational opportunities for students, and
  • SES relies on human and financial resources from various partners to enhance the SES curriculum.
Summary

Given the above description, the most salient and significant features of the SES are:

Interdisciplinary Thematic Curriculum

SES students spend the majority of their school day during the 11th and 12th grade years in interdisciplinary thematic learning experiences focused on environment studies.

Project-Based Learning

Students at the SES are exposed to a number of authentic learning and assessment projects. Typically the work the students do is connected, meaningful, related to the real world, and is presented to a number of experts in the field.

Supportive School Climate

The school climate at SES is different for a variety of reasons because of the unique attributes of the school. The greatest influence on a positive school atmosphere according to students comes from the freedom/responsibility and close staff/student relationships.

A Native American shelter in the woods was designed to use available materials. A Native American shelter in the woods was designed to use available materials.
 

  
 
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