Tuesday, February 16, 2016

A Glimpse at our XQ Super School Submission

Over the past few months a team of staff and students have been working together to draft our submission for the XQ Redesign High School project. We made it past phase one and we submitted our phase two proposal last week. We will hear if we have made it to the final phase on April 1st. There was a lot of great conversations that came from this work. The recurring theme over and over again by the students is that they want to see their education have meaning to them and their life after high school.

Even if we don't win the $10 million through the XQ project to rebuild our facility and build our Super School from the ground up, we can still fundamentally shift our approaches to instruction. It will take courage, collaboration, out of the box thinking, and most importantly commitment. Below you will see excerpts from our submission and "student voices," so that you can start thinking about how you can be part of the change.

A bold and compelling idea will be at the center of our school:
A school designed around vibrant participation in a student interest themed environment. We will empower our students to access pathways through exploration of different fields. This access and exploration will allow our students to engage in learning that will prepare them for a life of learning and career opportunities. Each Pathway would have a direct connection with the industry. Senior year they take a cap stone course. If they are working directly with industry they may leave high school with a job or an internship while they are in college. Student choice, relevance, community engagement and an empowered student body; welcome to Fairfield High School Discovery Academy.
Two Virtual Student Experiences: 
Our students awake to their school text wake-up service of choice. Their electronic assortment of assignments and announcements are organized with an elegant app. They arrive at the Cognitive Cafe on campus and select their healthy smoothie and warm sandwich.
They reach their “Learners Choice” session just after the ambient music starts on the PA, no jarring bells of old. Subject Matter Experts (SME) from the community start their workday as guides in the multiple career and project-focused Choice sessions.
Jose heads for the Health & Wellness Wing after his Learner’s Choice surgical simulator session. He finds his integrated team of Language Arts and Science teachers are finalizing the setup for the UCLA Medical Center videoconferencing session with Residents regarding their lessons learned in their journey. He already checked his blog post on his expectations and planned questions for today. He had a few tips from his Integrated English teacher and his Science teacher suggested further inquiry and refinement of a question he posted.
The English teacher departs the Health Wing and strolls past the dirt and native plant exhibition of the Landscape Architecture class and drops in to see Jasmine in the Service & Industry Wing. Jasmine’s capstone project was both her Learners Choice project and a major part of her Integrated Design class. The entrepreneurship module of her class was 20% online with her nearby community college. Her required community service led her to the Rotary Club where she met her mentor who advised her on her capstone project. Her effort was a comprehensive website and promotional plan matching local volunteers with local events. Jasmine has to take care of her grandmother three times a week, so she has taken advantage of the evening classes her school now offers.
Student choice, relevant learning, community engagement and an empowered student body. Welcome to our Super School.
Video Conversations with Students: 











Our ONE goal: To graduate every Fairfield High Student and to ensure that they leave FHS college and career ready!!! 
Inspire, Engage, Excite, Lead, Foster, Create, Empower!!


Many more great things are in store for Fairfield High!

Continue to be innovative, creative, and a model of excellence!



HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!

37 comments:

  1. This is a really cool idea . Go ROTC!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TANDY-> Tell us more! What specific idea appealed to you the most?

      Delete
  2. That's a good idea and I agree with it.I do think its preparing me with outside o life like ROTC and fafsa and scholarships and how some of the teachers are tearing us like its a college class

    ReplyDelete
  3. Some of challenges students also go through is handling school work and thinking about what you're going to do in the future, and how you're going to succeed in your future. I think thinking about your future is very stressful and students get side tracked from trying to do good and trying to stay on top of things in highschool and at the same time, trying to have a social life; time with friends and family.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree with the tall guy with glasses that school is not preparing us for the outside world and the real world problems we will face after high school

    ReplyDelete
  5. Shout out to Mrs.Witt for getting this school involved in this wonderful opportunity. Their are many things in which we can change about our school,I want to personally thank the students for their submissions, and improvements to the educational environment is a must if we want everyone to graduate.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Helping your decision on what to do after high school.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I like the concept of students being interviewed about their views on different topics.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jaskarn-
      Would you like to help do even more interviews of students on campus? Where could we publish the results to get the community even more engaged in creating our Super School?
      -- AVERY

      Delete
  8. I like it ! we need to clean this campus up and make it look nice and we have different areas where we can work on

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cesar- We are in need of a new community service project. Talk to your team-- is a campus cleanup something we can do ASAP?

      Delete
  9. Some students in high school don't get the same things in school as a 3.0 student. I think this school needs to be more interactive between the teachers and the students because everyone learns different so I think teachers need to learn to teach all kids different ways so they can also be a 3.0 or a 4.0 student.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kaloi- I want to hear more about this teacher-student interaction. Can you point to a recent experience where this happened to you or a friend in their classes?

      Delete
  10. Our school is preparing us for college and education after high school but it doesn't help us with life outside of school. There are many things we can change about our school but we need to have the patience and dedication not just the students but teachers and administrators as well. Thank you Mrs. Witt for this opportunity and for everything else you do for us and our school.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I think this is a good idea and we should attempt to when and instead of just a cafe we have a food court

    ReplyDelete
  12. for example McDonald or taco bell, pop eyes, churches, pizza hut, dominoes, burger king these are really good food places and also have vending machines for when someone is hungry and need something to eat.also the same person as the other unknown

    ReplyDelete
  13. I believe remodeling the campus to look a tad more appealing would be nice. Having food courts might be a a good way to make the campus feel fresh.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I hope we get the money to help our school

    ReplyDelete
  15. I do agree with most of this idea but i think should add more elective. Also we should add more things that will engage students and make school more enjoyable. Like teaching though video games. For my of idea is teaching through video games and technology.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JORDAN- Can you find any good video games that we could access in class to help with our World War I Museum Project?

      Delete
  16. I love the ideas of having an Architecture Class and a Cognitive Cafe. I really hope we get the money so we can make these improvements to our school.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I like the ideas, they are very good.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This is quite an interesting view on how to improve the school I would have to agree. I think that the Cognitive Cafe would help out a lot of the students who arrive to school earlier than others.

    ReplyDelete
  19. If we add more classes like the Architecture one we could really help prepare students for their jobs in the future. This would give them more experience and help them succeed beyond high school.

    ReplyDelete
  20. If our school won this money, it would motivate me and may others to focuse and take pride in out education more.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I can see why allowing for students to learn about things that interest them could be profitable to the benefitting of education however I believe the traditional system in place currently allows for students to obtain a more well-rounded education

    ReplyDelete
  22. All of it sounds like a good idea, but I honestly feel like not everyone will be able to work like that. There would be too many students for a high-school like that.

    ReplyDelete
  23. We should have a class that teaches students things we need to know in the future as an adult, including doing taxes and buying a house. It is important because we will need to know this in our lives.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I completely agree with spencer reed and that once high school ends it's basically on your own so we should spend money to actually have preparation classes

    ReplyDelete
  25. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  26. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Replies
    1. Why? What specifically did you find interesting for making the school "Super."

      Delete
  28. I agree with the students because after high school most students will be on their own. This let's them learn how to be successful and not depend on others. So yes I think students should have useful classes they can take now to make their future a lot less stressful. For example I would like to pursue something in the medical field so taking four English classes doesn it help me learn things about the medical field and help me move forward in my career in the future

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like your effort today Melissa. I wonder what various medical professionals would say about their high school education and what has served them best and how they would change HS...

      Delete
  29. -Albert, Justin, James, Manav, Steven say>>
    --We agree with all students who were interviewed for these videos. They all had very good answers for the questions they were asked. Spencer Reed saying how "once you graduate you're basically on your own."

    ReplyDelete