We didn’t set out to make this an issue about cultivating community and relationships and schools, but it’s clearly on the minds of our writers and editors. In this issue Chris Dolgos shares how his school, Genesee Community Charter School, grounds its curriculum in the history (and prehistory) of the land it sits on, fostering learning that is “place-based” as well as “project-based”; Dana Gaertner explains how teachers can use “project-maps” to foster a sense of shared ownership for the work among students (and even families); three biology teachers describe their shared honors curriculum, which combines student autonomy with responsibility to their peers; Sara Kennedy reveals the myriad ways that a school’s English language learner (ELL) coordinator makes sure that the bonds of school community expand further than the bonds of shared language fluency, and Erin Bower asks teachers to attend not only to the plans they bring to class, but to the “presence” they bring.