PBL Leadership
Academy
For the 2025–2026 school year, join the professional learning community dedicated to improving teaching and learning for all students, from the practices and lessons, through the systems and structures.
The PBL Leadership Academy is a collaboration between High Tech High and the California Department of Education to grow innovative, effective, project-based learning statewide.
The PBL Leadership Academy is a year-long in-person and online teacher professional learning program for diverse teams of California public educators to grow project-based learning within their schools, especially as a means to improve educational experiences for traditionally marginalized students.
Join our PBL community today
Why Join?
Engage Your Students
Great schools are rich in opportunities for students to do meaningful work in their communities, take leadership roles, and engage in personalized, creative, and interdisciplinary learning. Today, in many schools, we see those opportunities in many elective classes, extracurriculars, and Career Technical Education programs.
PBL takes the best elements of teaching and learning from those contexts and infuses them into all elements of the school, so that all students have the opportunity to do real work in the real world, and, through that, to experience deeper learning.
Project-based learning (PBL) develops all students’ skills, knowledge, and mindsets by exploring meaningful questions and creating real-world products and experiences for important audiences.
Build Design Skills
Develop your creative capacities as you collaboratively design, facilitate, and share original solutions with your colleagues and students to address your school-communities’ authentic needs.
Join a Powerful Network
Join a dedicated community of educators committed to growing the practices that sustain deeper learning across California.
Put Ideas into Practice
Take back new practices from advisories, workshops, den talks, makerspaces, and inspiring keynote speeches. Breakfast and lunch included.
Learn with an HTH Professional Learning Coach
An HTH educator coaches you and your team for the year. Get answers to your questions, receive up-to-the-minute resources for your work, and personalized mentoring to reach your goals.
Apply today
Let’s learn together
The PBL Leadership Academy welcomes diverse teams of California public educators, including teachers, administrators, and many others. Join the professional learning community dedicated to improving teaching and learning for all students
LEARN WITH US
The PBL Leadership Academy Details
You will leave with a Project Based Learning with lessons, units, curricula, and core practices that you can use to grow PBL in your school, district, or county.
Learn together at in-person Leadership Institutes at HTH, where you experience hands-on workshops with adults and students, visit the HTH schools and community, and more.
- Fall Institute: October 21–22, 2025
- Spring Institute: April 22–23, 2026
Learn online with the whole cohort, while focusing on your interests and goals.
- Join monthly online learning sessions to advance your PBL design and facilitation skills and share data and resources.
- Collaborate with your colleagues and other PBLLA participants to develop your lessons, units, and core practices.
Learn together with an HTH PBL Coach.
- A current HTH educator supports you and your team for the year.
- Get answers to your questions, receive up-to-the-minute resources for your work, and access personalized mentoring to reach your goals.
Earn up to six (6) Continuing Education Units (CEUs) through the HTH Graduate School of Education.
Learn more
Dig into the details.
Find answers to frequently asked questions right here. Contact us to learn more about the PBL Leadership Academy.
California public educators who serve learners in middle school, high school, or community colleges are encouraged to form teams and apply.
The ideal team is composed of four to six highly collaborative educators who want to grow as PBL designers, facilitators, and leaders.
Each team should include at least one classroom teacher-leader and at least one school or district administrator. From there, design your team around authentic goals for your school and community. Teams typically include educators focused on English, Math, and/or Career Technical Education.
The most important element to consider in designing your team is how you plan to structure collaboration. In the past, successful teams have focused on many different topics, but one thing they all have in common is an authentic way to regularly work together.
Build a school, district, or county-based team of four to six educators who will lead this work. Then, complete the application.
The 2024–2025 PBL Leadership Academy runs from September 2024 to May 2025.
Participating teams commit to joining the fall and spring Leadership Institutes at HTH and all online sessions.
Participation costs $700 per participant ($2,800 per team of four).
Participation is generously supported for California public school educators by the California Department of Education.
Build Your Team and Apply!
