A Modern Vision for a Global Future GLOBAL Introducing the next-generation boarding school BOARDINGA modern vision for a global future: One school with campuses in the world’s 30 leading cities. www.whittleschool.org OVERVIEW At the heart of our work is the belief that schooling everywhere is stuck in the past and that a dramatic modernization is long overdue. Our innovations focus on how students learn as much as what they learn. Conceived as a global network of 30 residential campuses, our educational program is truly unique in its exposure to international culture and languages. Achieving mastery and engaging student passions will foster creativity, personal growth, From day one, our boarders will be connected will have opportunities to immerse independence and a sense of responsibility. with a global community. They will build themselves within the offerings of these relationships and collaborate with their urban environments, whether by exploring peers from other Whittle campuses around museums, engaging in exhibitions by world- the world through digital connections and class experts, or attending concerts and by interacting with students participating in professional athletic events. The diversity GLOBAL ROTATION. As the Whittle campus of the offerings within the city will only be network grows, so will the opportunities for surpassed by the diversity of backgrounds connection and rotation programs between and beliefs of the students within the campuses. residential program. It is here where students Whittle campuses are defined by the energy will be exposed to and learn about cultures and opportunities of the city. Students and customs from all over the world. 3 whittleschool.org global boarding 4 JIM HAWKINS VICE-CHANCELLOR & GLOBAL HEAD OF SCHOOL HEADS FORMER HEADMASTER, HARROW SCHOOL Our campuses not only provide students with life-changing experiences, but also with lifelong friendships around the world. Boarding lies at the heart of some of the world’s greatest schools. There is good reason for this: the opportunity to live in a learning community, to form lasting friendships and to develop confidence and independence when away from home can be life- changing. Whittle School & Studios is reinventing education for a new generation of boys and girls, including in our approach to residential life, which will be experiential, vivid, fun and caring. Our boarders will build memories, learn from the vibrant city in which they live and generate a sense of family that will stay with them for life. The facilities for students participating in GLOBAL ROTATION will provide an unprecedented array of opportunities to expand horizons and develop strong connections with people around the world. We invite you to join this truly global, residential Whittle community. 5 whittleschool.org global boarding 6 essential to fulfill our model of a global, modern education. essential to are local cultures Engaging with the city and respecting OVERVIEW The Whittle Global Curriculum is a curation of best practices from curricula around the world. In order to deliver the future of education, our education design team has spent the past four years visiting and researching the world’s most prestigious schools, from traditional institutions such as Eton and Harrow, in England, and Phillips Academy Andover, in Massachusetts, to leading progressive schools on the West Coast and in Northern Europe, and the world’s best-performing institutions across Asia. Guided by the Center for Curriculum Redesign at Harvard, our team has been encouraged to rethink education according to what we know from the science of learning, to retain the best of traditional practices while employing the best progressive practices and to respect local cultures in the development of schools that meet the demands of a new era in global education. Central to our approach is the Every aspect of the curriculum, down to CurriculumTHE ACADEMIC PROGRAM consideration of who our graduates the way the daily schedule is structured, ENGINEERED FOR THE MODERN are going to be. In order to face the is built around ensuring that students are challenges and opportunities of the well developed in three spheres of life: the STUDENT AND THE 21ST CENTURY 21st century, students need to learn world of humanity, the world of the self more than just course content. Whittle and the world of knowledge. We believe students will learn how to solve deeply in the power of education as a problems in creative ways, how to work transformative force in society and in the well with others, how to research and lives of students. Our school is dedicated synthesize information and how to apply to cultivating in our students the skills, their learning to real-world problems. creativity and character necessary to They will be firmly rooted in their own solve the world’s existential challenges. culture and gain great respect and Our graduates will leave the Whittle knowledge of other cultures. School & Studios with unique strengths as resilient individuals, rigorous scholars and compassionate citizens. 7 whittleschool.org global boarding 8 THE UPPER SCHOOL CURRICULUM Humanities Mastery Bands Advisory A TYPICAL DAY AT WHITTLE A two-year core program integrates Math Meeting four times per week, students English Language and Literature, A two- or three-level mastery- work closely with an advisor to guide their TIME FOCUS History, Politics, Economics, and based sequence (completion of the school, travel and extracurricular activities Religion. Ninth graders engage in third level is required for study of and to plan for college and their careers. thematically oriented, project-based advanced topics) integrates algebra, For example, ninth graders may use an 8:30-8:45 a.m. Mind & Body study of Modern World History and geometry, precalculus, and statistics advisory period to develop goals for each Literature, culminating in a capstone topics, leading to advanced study in class, including how they will use their project. Tenth graders study Modern calculus or statistics, independent Acceleration period that week. 8:45-9:55 a.m. Interdisciplinary Block: Humanities United States History and Literature, study and/or electives (basic and using Washington D.C. as a lens advanced). Math study in the Athletics to examine our national history. Upper School is problem-based and The aim of the Physical Education program Students also have the opportunity also integrates focused work on 10:00-11:10 a.m. Interdisciplinary Block: STEM is to create the disposition to be physically to choose from a diverse menu of computational thinking and financial active for life coupled with experiencing elective seminars on topics ranging literacy alongside the acquisition the joy of movement. Physical Education from poetry to journalism to urban of more traditional math skills and in ninth and tenth graders will expose 11:15-12:05 noon Mastery Band: Chinese planning. knowledge. students to a myriad of activities with Language and Culture the concept of physical literacy being at STEM th th Students choose between an the center. In 11 and 12 grade, courses 12:10-12:45 p.m. Lunch A two- or three-level core sequence immersive study of either Spanish will allow students to specialize in a (completion of the third level is or Chinese, leveraging our global particular area such as exercise science, required for study of advanced network for authentic experiences exercise physiology & anatomy, sport 12:45-1:20 p.m. Advisory topics) integrates traditional science and cross-cultural connections. science, athletic leadership, strength & disciplines (Life Sciences, Physical Opportunities for full cultural conditioning, martial arts, tai chi, yoga and Sciences, Earth and Environmental immersion exist through our Global dance. Sciences) with technology, Rotation program. Course offerings 1:20-2:10 p.m. Acceleration engineering and applied math. After allow for all ranges of experience and completing the first two levels of the exposure to languages, from novices STEM sequence, students are able to heritage speakers. 2:15-3:05 p.m. Mastery Band: Math to enroll in STEM electives and/or pursue independent study in STEM Acceleration topics. Enrollment in advanced Dedicated time for students to work electives and study of advanced one-on-one with teachers to address 3:10-4:20 p.m. Interdisciplinary Block: 2D Arts physics, chemistry or biology gaps in foundational knowledge, requires completion of to practice and develop core skills, the third level of the core STEM to enrich learning and to pursue 4:30-6:30 p.m. Studios sequence. individualized study of topics in greater depth. 9 whittleschool.org global boarding 10 Academic Overview: Sample of Scope & Sequence Upper School th Pivot Curriculum – 9 Grade th 9 The knowledge and skills in Grade 9 will provide a pivot from the middle school to the upper GRADE school by moving student toward addressing questions of increasing complexity, demanding more ambitious critical thinking and greater degrees of student choice and agency within the Humanities teacher-designed curriculum. Global Connections through Local Roots: Cities of a Modernizing World Foundations Unit Unit Unit Grade 10 establishes the knowledge and skills foundation necessary for students to be well- rounded scholars and empathetic global citizens, and to be prepared to make more independent 1 2 3 choices in 11th and 12th grade. In Grade 10, students are required to take all interdisciplinary th blocks and all mastery-based bands. The personalization in grades nine and ten comes not Cities in Nature: Cities and Citizens: Cities as Crucibles of 10 from students choosing electives, but from a pedagogy based in understanding each student’s Exploration, Expansion Liberty, Liberation and Change: Revolution GRADE passions and ways of learning. Teachers will personalize projects (in collaboration with the and Empire Identity and the Dynamics of student and advisor) on the basis of a deep understanding of each student and using a deep Transformation reservoir of projects that permit students to engage in high-quality project-based learning along a variety of pathways at different levels of mastery.