The School of Environmental Studies in Apple Valley, Minn., has successfully integrated design with an innovative curriculum. The school is one of 13 named by the U.S. Department of Education as a new American High School (http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/nahs/video/).

The school’s culture shaped the design of the facility. There are four integrated academic houses, with 100 students per house. Each house is divided into 10 pods, housing individual and teamed efforts.

A centrum within each house can hold all the students at once. Pods are located along the sides of the centrum, and each house incorporates a science lab and seminar space. The students each have their own workstation, but they also work on their own time outside the school.

The classes are theme based; students and teachers take a theme and develop a universal question that in turn drives their curriculum, offers a variety of possible answers, leads to more questions, uses a wealth of resources, and can be measured in relevant tasks. The students also partner with local businesses and groups.

In addition to the theme classes, students have Socratic seminars, which encompass school-wide involvement; foundation skills, which include group processing and research; and inquiry and discovery, which involves problem solving.

Such a curriculum allows students to interact more closely with their community and adds greater meaning to their lessons. In turn, many students are less stressed as they advance to the next stage in their lives.

Learn more about the school at: SES

Photo above right: Dan Bodette, Principal, with the school mascot, Bess.