Zappos Moving Forward with School Plans

in ,

I recently came across an article that talked about how Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is creating an innovative new school set to open in downtown Las Vegas in August of this year.  In December, a workshop was actually set up at the site of the new school (former First Baptist Church at Ninth Street and Bridger Ave. in downtown Las Vegas) to give kids an opportunity to help design the look and feel of the classrooms in the school.

The school plans on having community and creativity as the dominant themes within the curriculum, and they actually will begin to interview prospective teachers this month.  Meg Murray, the school’s lead researcher and designer, believes the school will be unique in its efforts to employ neuroscience, learning, and positive psychology to maximize the children’s learning. 

We’re excited to see that education is going to play a part in the building of the community through the Downtown Project and we’re sure these efforts will help push education further along in Las Vegas.

Charter School Post Higher Graduation Rates

in ,

I just came across this article and I thought it was definitely worth sharing.   The Washington Informer just posted the results of a study showing that charter schools in the D.C. area actually have a 14% higher graduation rate than students in public schools.  Even more encouraging is the fact that over half of the charter school students come from the most poverty stricken areas of the D.C. area.

It’s great to see what a dramatic effect the charter school model can have on students that would normally be considered at-risk.   Personalized attention and creative teaching methods offered by charter schools certainly plays a large role on the increased graduation rates.

We just want to see congratulations to those schools and other charter schools that are seeing similar results from their diligent efforts.