Any news on the high school plans? So far it looks like we're building schools for the education of the past. Lots of rows, rectangles, and teacher's desks up front. Seemingly little thought to what a classroom looks like if it's connected to the web, or if students progress at pace instead of grade-level, or if we design co-curricular projects that'd involve more than 30 students in a given space at once. When asked at the meeting for the Grant school unveiling why these schools weren't designed around concepts that we know are emerging in schools all over the world, I was told, basically, that nobody had asked for a school meant for the future. So we're going to get what we asked for. The question, in my mind, is what are we asking for?
It's time that Lakewood City Schools develops a clear mission based on student learning. We won't get this, of course, until we start asking for schools that serve our children, and not schools that reflect what we would have wanted as children in the 1980s.
Take a look at Clark Hall in Gahanna, or the plans that Mentor is developing regarding their blended learning initiative. The current school plans being brought forward in Lakewood are woefully behind these projects that are either already built or approved for construction this year.
http://www.gahannaschools.org/Schools/Lincoln_High_School/ClarkHall.aspxhttp://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20140910/mentor-schools-plan-for-new-blended-online-learning-initiativesIt's time for a bit of honesty regarding our district's direction. If we wait too long to start this conversation, we're going to lose our reputation as being one of the most forward-thinking and innovative districts in the state.
We need a strong vision, strongly annunciated, and developed in conjunction with the public. Do we have that? Are these school plans evidence of a vision for education?
