Upcoming MBLC Spring School Visits

"Since we came back [from visiting schools in New York with well developed practices], we have hit the ground running.
I feel like a firehose—it was so good, and so much. We've started to share bits and pieces, experiences and examples . . .
I feel like I got a big old pot of stuff, and I can access it and choose pieces bit by bit to support our own work." 

— MBLC school leader after school intervisitations

One of the most powerful ways to learn about learner-centered, culturally responsive-sustaining MBL is to see it in action in a school. School visits allow us to 

• build a mental model of what learner-centered culturally responsive-sustaining MBL looks like—this is vitally important, because most of us did not experience our own K-12 learning this way!

• hear firsthand about the what, why, when, how, and who of school innovation. The great and not so great ideas, the process of learning and unlearning, moving from theory to practice, developing and realizing a shared vision.

• visit classrooms and learn from students, staff, and leaders about how the work has unfolded—and its impact on each person's daily experience in a particular school

• connect with others who share our sense of purpose in this work

• get access to school-created resources such as grading policies, schedules, unit maps, staff handbooks, and more

• make connections back to our own contexts and sets of circumstances. Here's how this could look in our school . . . 

Having recently participated in Magic School Bus, NYC Competency Collaborative edition, in which 34 MBLC community members came to NYC to visit 4 schools with well-developed CRSE/MBL practices, I am alit with the power of school visits! 

This May, two MBLC member schools will host intervisitations for the MBLC community. 

• CHOICE Academy in Burien will host a May 1 visit focused on collective efficacy with CRSE, Universal Design for Learning - UDL, and Standards-based Grading. (This visit is now waitlist only.) 

• On May 15, Innovation Lab High School in Bothell will host a visit focused on learner-centered school design and sense of belonging. 

MBLC members can register our Year at a Glance page if you're interested in joining us on these visits. Space is limited, and registration is open till both visits are full, and we will keep a waitlist, too.

Read on for the MBLC member profile for CHOICE Academy in Burien, a small, choice school serving grades 6-12. And if you're interested in reading about Innovation Lab HS, here's their MBLC member profile.

Read, enjoy, and consider joining us for a visit to one of these two wonderful schools!