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Welcome!

We will begin shortly.

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The U School Commercial

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Produced by:

Anthony Rivera

Argelis Minaya-Bravo

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Assignment:

Create a commercial for our school that represents the student perspective of this community

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Student Interviews

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Alumni Short

Produced by:

Kahliah Townes

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Assignment:

Better capture the essence of The U School in a short piece

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Keys for Students

  • Project-based School
  • Very consistent grading and rubrics
  • No Uniform
  • Lunch/Recess, new Basketball Courts
  • Sports
  • Challenge days and lots field trips
  • Select Advisory yourself!
  • Dual Enrollment and College Pathway
  • Activities during and after school
  • Post-secondary pathways for all!

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it’s about the people

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it’s about the people

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we get out the building

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we get out the building

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we play sportsball

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Let’s Chat with U Schoolers!

  • Round of Introductions
    • Name
    • Grade
    • Pronouns
  • Q1: What is one thing you love / like about The U School?
  • Q2: Who would you tell to apply to The U School?
  • Q3: What are some opportunities The U School has exposed you to?
  • Q4: From the audience

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QUESTIONS?

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Stay in Touch + Raffle

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Agenda

  • Why the U School?
  • What matters?
  • Important Structures
  • Q&A

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MEANING OF OUR NAME

  • Symbol!
  • Means users at the center
    • The people that use the school are learners, educators and caregivers
  • Voted on by students from across the city when we were getting started.

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OUR MASCOT!

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We are THE UNICORNS!

  • Selected by our first class
  • Unique
  • Powerful
  • Fierce
  • Welcoming to all!

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What do we care about at The U School?

Personalized

Learning

Competency-based

Learning

Restorative Youth Development

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WHAT MATTERS AT THE U SCHOOL?

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DEVELOPING YOUTH, READY FOR THE CHALLENGES OF WORLD(1)

  • Students have LOTS of choice and voice!
  • You must be part of and build a STRONG community
  • Consequences not discipline (You have to fix every problem you cause!)
  • Responsibility and accountability to your community and your learning (you are responsible to your learning)

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Community

Possi

Peer

Mentoring

Restorative

Practices

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Possi - Advisory

  • Every student picks their Possi Leader
  • 4 year advisory program
  • Same group for whole time at school
  • Student-led Conferences

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RESTORATIVE + NATURAL CONSEQUENCES

Students must engage in solving the harm caused to self or others!

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WHAT MATTERS AT THE U SCHOOL?

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ASSESSING PERFORMANCE, NOT PRACTICE (2)

  • 100% of your grade are your demonstrations (papers, labs, events plans, films, etc), not the practice that goes into them

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WHAT MATTERS AT THE U SCHOOL?

PART #1

ASSESSING PERFORMANCE, NOT PRACTICE

Practice - Learn and fail!

Performance - Ready to succeed!

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Competency

Indicator(s)

Performance Levels

Post-Secondary Ready

College Level Work

The continua represents all of the performance levels of the skill (ELA 3.1 Introduce claim)

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PATH TO GRADUATION (9th-11th) -

Year 1 - 7 Credits

  • Algebra 1
  • English 1
  • History (AFAM or World)
  • Environmental Science
  • Physical Education
  • Health (.5)
  • Habits of Success 1 (.5)
  • Seminar (.5)
  • Wayfinding 1 (.5)

Year 2 - 8 Credits

  • English 2
  • History (AFAM or World)
  • Env Sci 2 or Biology
  • Geometry
  • Photographic Media
  • Spanish 1
  • Spanish 2
  • Habits of Success 2 (.5)
  • Wayfinding 2 (.5)

Year 3 - 8 Credits

  • Algebra 2
  • English 3
  • US History
  • Social Science
  • Env Sci 2 or Biology
  • Photographic Media 2
  • Habits of Success 3 (.5)
  • Wayfinding 3 (.5)

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SENIOR YEAR! - AFNR

Agriculture, Food Science and Natural Resources (AFNR) - One year CTE program!

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SENIOR YEAR! - Real World Learning

Love.

Dream.

Do.

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SENIOR YEAR! - Real World Learning

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SENIOR YEAR! - Real World Learning

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SENIOR YEAR! - Real World Learning

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SENIOR YEAR! - Real World Learning

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Students Who Should Select The U School:

  • Willing to take a “leap of faith”
  • Interested in designing their own future!
  • Interested in challenging themselves socially and academically
  • Interest in changing the world through learning and action
  • Open to hard work! (+45 mins/day HWK)
  • Lots of reading, writing + projects!
  • Working really hard for 4 years!

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Students Who STRUGGLE at THE U SCHOOL:

  • Young people unwilling to ask for help
  • Scared to really try and learn (lots of work a failure involved)
  • Struggle with completing lots of learning
  • Scared to take responsibility for your actions
  • Need adults to harass you to get learning done

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Other Important Facts

  • Dress code, no uniform
  • Transportation: must live more than 1.5 miles away for transpass
  • No current sports teams, we play with Kensington
  • Lots of student-led clubs (any student can start one)
  • Start time: 8:45am, End M-Th: 3:49pm, F: 1:30pm

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Our Flyer

  • Our Flyer (Digital)
  • Our Flyer (Printing)
  • You must RSVP to events if you are coming.

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Let’s Chat with U Schoolers!

  • Round of Introductions
    • Name
    • Grade
    • Pronouns
  • Q1: What is one thing you love / like about The U School?
  • Q2: Who would you tell to apply to The U School?
  • Q3: What are some opportunities The U School has exposed you to?
  • Q4: From the audience

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QUESTIONS?

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Some recent student learning….

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Great Example of Student Learning

  • Black Butterfly - Anthony Rivera
  • Earned him a $100,000 annual scholarship to NYU
  • Focused on turning poems + feelings in visual stories
  • https://vimeo.com/228878599

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More Student Learning

The U School Fashion Lab has engaged in numerous fashion projects below is one example:

https://moore.edu/about-moore/blog-publications/blog/u-school-students-present-trashy-fashions-on-fox-29

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Course Learning

Gives a small taste of the types of learning students are creating across learning spaces:

  • Freeze
  • Property of No One
  • This is My Body
  • Make-up: A Complicated Choice
  • No Labels Attached
  • Mural Arts at The U School

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“Freeze”

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Written and Produced by:

Anthony Rivera

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Assignment:

What would you tell the next President? A National Writing Project and PBS challenge.

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“Property of No One”

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Written and Produced by:

Katiana Geiger

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Edited by:

Anthony Rivera

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Assignment:

Informative piece about the perspective of being Muslim in America.

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“This is My Body”

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Produced by:

Dahmir Williams

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Assignment:

The performance task of a narrative writing unit

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“Make-up: A Complicated Choice”

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Produced by:

Domonae Darden

Jovahn Hardy

Shaylynn Smith

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Assignment:

Short subject video journalism

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“No Labels Attached”

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Produced by:

//Aloni Prince/Heaven Brown

//Aaliarah Price/Janasia Anderson

Mcburney/Synae Fielder

//Rafiel Collado/Aaliylah

Rodriguez/Jaimeer Burch

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Assignment:

PBS Student Reporting Labs

No Labels Attached

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“Mural Arts at The U School”

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Produced by:

Fewcell Davis

Sequoi Felix

Marina Hildevert

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Assignment:

Short subject video journalism

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Extra-Curricular Learning

These are quick examples of the experiences that students and staff engage in to enhance learning even more:

  • Breakout
  • Mural #1
  • Mural #2

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“Breakout”

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Produced by:

Domonae Darden

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Assignment:

Summary of Breakout Mentorship project for Aspen Challenge

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A link to the students’ Aspen Challenge presentation

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First School Mural

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Our 2nd Mural

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THANK YOU!