My current school has the IB program, which I was planning on pursuing a full IB diploma. I’m sure you guys know a lot about that program, so I won’t be describing it.
However, recently, a new choice high school opened up near me. It’s called an innovation school, and they would teach with the expeditionary learning model. From what I gathered, the school teaches “project-based learning expeditions, where students engage in interdisciplinary, in-depth study of compelling topics, in groups and in their community, with assessment coming through cumulative products, public presentations, and portfolios.”
It sounds fun, but here are some of my concerns:
- It opens up the following school year, so it doesn’t sound like they have everything planned out. When I asked, they couldn’t give me a list of classes offered, and instead, they said they would “adapt according to student opinion”
- No IB or AP classes
- Since they draft teachers from nearby schools, someone mentioned that the schools might offer up their least popular teachers
- No grades, instead they use a “Mastery Transcript”. I don’t understand much about what it is, but basically there’s no GPA
- No homework. I don’t have anything against homework, and although it might be weird for a student to say so, I think it’s a good way to review material
- Limited options. They don’t seem to have a great variety in course options or resources, as there is no gym, cafeteria, library, lab faculties, etc.
- While I would love to do project-based learning, they also said there would be no due dates, and as a student that likes finishing things on time, I think it would be hard to control a class with people who finish within a week, and people who take the whole year
- Since they explicitly state that they will try to serve students of all abilities and backgrounds, it’s very different from IB where it’s all high-achieving students, so the learning environment and classmates will be different
- We will create a portfolio of projects we have done, which they say will be great for college, but I don’t know if that’s enough to substitute the typical GPA and ECs.
- It’s a small and mostly irrelevant issue, but I have been taking French for 2 years, but they don’t offer French and I would hate to quit now
Overall, it seems like a school that would be great to attend, especially since I love creating projects and their values are mostly what I believe in too. However, I have many concerns with their organization and the impact for college admissions, so what would be your opinion on this? Any advice will be helpful!