“Redefining high school and the Village of Endicott at Tiger Ventures,” by Katie Sullivan Borelli, in pressconnects / USA Today

“But you won't find any worksheets or packets for students to fill out on the desks here. That's what Mendez, who is in ninth grade, likes about it. It's hands on.

“Since working with computers at school, he's started collecting some extra phones and tablets at home he doesn't use, and practices taking them apart and studying the mechanics.

“He didn't feel motivated in school before, didn't feel like he was learning. […]

“Union-Edicott's Tiger Ventures high school combines academic classes with working closely with start-up business professionals. The incubator businesses are located in the school and offer the students the opportunity to work in a wide variety of fields.”

Why does this matter to the future of learning?

Tiger Ventures received a grant from the XQ Prize Foundation and opened in 2016.

They have a three year head start on offering a radically different model of school.

They are a public school. In Binghamton, NY (population: 45,000).

If you are an independent school, ask yourself how long before a public school in your back yard creates the same opportunity.

…speaking of alternative school models…

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“Failure Is an Option: For Students at Iowa Big, Tests Come First, Learning From Experiences Follows,” by Kate Stringer, in The 74 Million

“ ‘At Iowa BIG, you get tested first and then you learn, and I argue that’s how the real world works,’ senior Kellen Ochs said.

“And their teachers were not shy in offering critiques of student work, walking students through ‘retrospectives’ or group meetings where they discussed how they struggled in a project and what they could have done better.

“ ‘Teenagers don’t ever get to iterate. Ever,’ said Shawn Cornally, teacher and co-founder of Iowa BIG. ‘If they get a bad grade they move on. They don’t grow from it, they don’t try again.’ ”

“BIG tries to do the opposite of that, allowing students to make mistakes publicly, learn from them, and improve.”

Why does this matter to the future of learning?

Further proof that innovation in full-school models is taking place not just in public schools, but also outside of major metropolitan centers. (BIG is in Cedar Rapids, population: 130,000.)

Like Tiger Ventures, Iowa BIG has a head start on the competition, having opened in 2015.

The good news is that fast followers can learn from their successes and mistakes. But first make sure that you understand your school’s brand.

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Question of the week:

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