Community as the Campus

Learning happens everywhere throughout a community, including in-school and out-of-school settings, remote locations and through online platforms. This has been constant – long before COVID-19 forced educators and policy makers to rethink the antiquated systems that perpetuate inequitable models of teaching and learning, but systemic change is slow to design and implement. Yet, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to design an educational system that truly works for all students, families and educators to transform our democracy.

So, what do we do with this moment?

We act, as collaborative designers, to reimagine school by listening to all stakeholders, by creating aspirations, by acknowledging constraints, and by prototyping models to accelerate transformative change.

TIES, in collaboration with our partners and many communities throughout the country, has launched Community as the Campus as a sustainable design initiative to catalyze the future of education. This is a comprehensive approach to teaching and learning, based on research, cross-sector collaboration and the social agency of citizens, particularly the most marginalized.

At its core, the Community as the Campus must be designed with a focus on equity, social-emotional wellness, deeper learning and the health and safety of all involved. Please connect with TIES and our partners as we frame the questions, ideas and actions to rethink education and design it together.

Community as the Campus Partner

Services to Support K-12 School and District Redesign

Listening and Learning sessions with a focus on community assets and stakeholder concerns and aspirations, to guide collaborative design for the future of K-12 and post-secondary education, inclusive of:

Broad-range surveys to uncover readiness, assets and common themes
Sector-specific focus groups to gather stakeholder perspectives
Deep-dive interviews with cross-sector leaders

Design Studios facilitated intentionally with cross-sector partners, to generate a common framework for Community as the Campus, including but not limited to the following offerings:

Innovation by Design emphasizing aspirations, constraints, and near-and long-term goals for reimagining school; scenario planning for leaning across environments; and development of 30-day and 90-day blueprint cycles with priorities
Collaboration by Design with a focus on planning for equity, wellness and health across learning environments, including outdoor spaces
Leading with Learning by Design with teams of educators and community partners to design transdisciplinary units, seamlessly connecting learning throughout the community, to ensure deeper learning regardless of location
Measurement by Design to leverage existing research and case studies of competency-based learning and student exhibitions to enable and document the demonstration of learning across environments.

Executive Coaching and Education Leadership Support as redesign plans are implemented, prototypes are tested and iterated and new scenarios emerge.

Educator Professional Development and Coaching focusing on specific elements of deeper learning, assessment and student/family engagement when learning is transdisciplinary and multi-dimensional across various locations.

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) within or across districts to create ongoing peer-to-peer supports and continuous adult learning.