At a Manhattan press conference yesterday in Frank Gehry's IAC HQ, Avenues: The World School announced its Chelsea campus in the heart of New York City. CEO Chris Whittle created this innovative organization with business partner Benno Schmidt to address the convergence of three major forces at work in our society:
1. The need for globally prepared graduates.
2. Staggering growth in the world's greatest cities.
3. The need for more effective ways to teach and learn.
Avenues is envisioned to be the most diverse school on the planet: 30,000 students on 5 continents in 20 of the world's most dynamic cities: centers of governments, commerce, and culture. The curriculum developed for Avenues brings knowledge gained by an impressive group of educators who for the last 20+ years have been leading America's premier institutions: Yale, Columbia, Phillips Exeter Academy, The Hotchkiss School, Dalton School, 92nd Street Y Nursery School, and Hillbrook School.
At the press conference, Ty Tingley and Skip Mattoon laid out guiding principles for the innovative curriculum:
1. Mastery of Content that engages students with their passions.
2. A World Course: exploring our connected humanity over a 15 year sequence.
3. Language Fluency in a second or third language.
4. Delivered on 5 Continents: Students will experience other cultures.
5. Practical Life Skills.
The delivery of the curriculum features:
1. Individualized and Self-Directed Learning.
2. Personalized Instruction, capitalizing the power of the digital age.
3. Best in Class Faculty.
4. Real-Time Assessment.
5. The City as Campus, with innovative partnerships and opportunities that come with being located on the High Line in the Chelsea Art Community, and just blocks away from Chelsea Piers, a million square feet of athletic opportunities.
The first-of-it's-kind World Course developed by Avenues will be available for use by other school organizations, both public and private.
President Alan Greenberg then described the school facilities, a transformation of an industrial era warehouse into an place that produces global citizens...exchanging knowledge in the 21st Century. The school features formal and informal learning spaces that engage with the city at street level and overlooking the High Line park. The design and construction of the facility is lead by the innovative architect Ray Bordwell, who's experience includes working with educators to shape educational projects on 5 continents and across the United States.
Avenues: The World School is a school to watch over the coming years, as leading educators are combining knowledge to create a ground-up 21st Century global educational system. The media is taking note, including a story last night on NY1.
Peter:
Nice article. Kind of exhilarating. Nice to know someone out there still thinks big. Have posted and Tweeted from 3rd Planet. Hope you're staying warm!
Mike
Posted by: Mike Poynton | 02 February 2011 at 09:15 AM
Exciting project. Good to see you and Ray working together again. Thanks for blogging about it. Look forward to future updates.
Posted by: Kathie | 17 February 2011 at 07:41 AM