1. Distribute the blog posts from my school visits to individuals or teams of faculty, staff, and trustees. Ask them to think of a bunch of questions that fit the simple form: “What if our school did _______________________just like ____________________ (fill in the name of the school they are reading about) is already doing.” I [...]
I got to St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School latish in the afternoon; most of the students had left for meetings with college admissions reps, but I had a quiet chance to meet with long-time Head Joan Holden, long-time CFO Beth Chase, and two art teachers. Most schools don’t roll out the art teachers for me [...]
Thanks so much to WhippleHill and founder Travis Warren for their support on my journey. Here is a video chat that I did with Travis when I visited their offices in October. It is a pretty good summary of the journey as of mid-October.
I had a pretty high opinion of Sidwell Friends School before I visited this week, and was not disappointed. Head Tom Farquhar freely admits they are not “the most progressive school”, but I brought away some important lessons regarding both process and product. I had put this school on my visit list not due to [...]
If you are in range of Atlanta on Nov. 6, I am honored to be with SAIS for their monthly Lunch and Learn from 11:30-1:30. According to regional director Holly Chesser spaces are filling up quickly, so contact her to reserve a spot. I will give a summary of my journey to date and then [...]
As we have seen before on this journey, schools are at different places on the path toward a new learning paradigm, and it is not so much where they are, but the fact that they are on the path that labels them as innovators. Alexandria Country Day School is in this category. They have a [...]
A few quick notes, then I will be posting from my exciting visit at Cushing Academy today: A big thanks to NAIS and President Pat Bassett for mentioning me and providing the link to my blog on the NAIS E-Bulletin today: "HOW INNOVATIVE IS YOUR SCHOOL? Join Grant Lichtman as he visits 60 schools to report [...]
The building which houses the Upper School at Poughkeepsie Day School is steeped in creativity; Thomas Watson and early IBM inventors once worked in the basement, tinkering with ideas that grew into one of the largest and most successful companies in the world. It is only fitting that PDS took over the building in the [...]
This will be a somewhat abbreviated post, not because The School at Columbia University has little to report, but because it has become a well-known stop on school tours of the northeast and many of you know their story. I spent an hour and a half with Don Buckley, Director of Technology and Innovation and [...]
Big discussions can lead to big changes, not necessarily in rapid-fire fashion, but at a more comfortable pace. This post is about a school that saw the need for big discussions, had the leadership and courage to enter the arena, and has created some profound ripple-on effects. A dam broke, not only freeing up time [...]