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High Tech High Graduate School of Education
High Tech High Graduate School of Education
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A person stands on tiptoe, reaching up to adjust colorful artwork as part of a thoughtful curation on a gallery-style wall lined with various framed and unframed art pieces in a well-lit, modern space.

More Than Decoration

This collection of curated student work spans the hallways of High Tech High schools. See examples and take the techniques so you can use the ones that will work on your school.
Unboxed Staff

Latest

Two students sit at a table with laptops, focusing on their work. One, in a green jacket, holds a pen; the other looks thoughtful. Papers and notebooks are scattered across the table, reflecting active student involvement in learning.
Integrating Students into the Process of Seeing What Can Be Improved Schoolwide
Insect Diagrams offer opportunities for students, educators, and leaders to learn from one another.
Brent Spirnak
A woman labeled COACH and a man labeled TEACHER sit together at a table in a classroom with blue chairs. The coach is speaking while the teacher reviews papers, possibly discussing a Student Work Protocol.
Looking at Student Work Protocol
A 40-minute protocol for looking at student work and preparing for the next day’s math lesson.
Nate LeBoffe
A person stands on tiptoe, reaching up to adjust colorful artwork as part of a thoughtful curation on a gallery-style wall lined with various framed and unframed art pieces in a well-lit, modern space.
More Than Decoration
This collection of curated student work spans the hallways of High Tech High schools. See examples and take the techniques so you can use the ones that will work on your school.
Unboxed Staff
A person stands on tiptoe, reaching up to adjust colorful artwork as part of a thoughtful curation on a gallery-style wall lined with various framed and unframed art pieces in a well-lit, modern space.
More Than Decoration
This collection of curated student work spans the hallways of High Tech High schools. See examples and take the techniques so you can use the ones that will work on your school.
Unboxed Staff
A group of adults sits at tables in a classroom, working together on laptops. Some people are collaborating and pointing at screens, discussing strategic communication, while charts and notes on reducing absenteeism are posted on the wall behind them.
Starting Strong, Staying Strong: Reducing Chronic Absenteeism Through Strategic Communication
Our regional attendance network designed a sequenced communication cadence that rolls out in three waves: a “Start Strong” attendance campaign in the fall, followed by winter and spring campaigns. Early evidence suggests that such campaigns positively impact attendance not only during the campaign but continue to produce positive impacts for a short time afterwards.
Bill Eagle, Ashley Goetz
A man holding a microphone and notebook speaks to a seated audience, while another man in a blue vest stands nearby. Behind them, a colorful sign reads Deeper Learning—a system embraced by many attendees in matching blue shirts.
The Cypher, The Stoop, The System
Improvement isn’t just a method. It’s culture.
Jeff Boxill
A man in a suit speaks into a microphone on stage at the National Summit for Improvement, featured in Unboxed Issue 30, while another man sits and smiles. An attentive audience watches them, with a blue banner visible in the background.
Welcome To Unboxed Issue 30
In April, I had the great pleasure of moderating a “crossover” panel that spanned the Deeper Learning Conference and the National Summit on Improvement in Education. 
Alec Patton

Improvement

See all improvement content

Two students sit at a table with laptops, focusing on their work. One, in a green jacket, holds a pen; the other looks thoughtful. Papers and notebooks are scattered across the table, reflecting active student involvement in learning.
Integrating Students into the Process of Seeing What Can Be Improved Schoolwide
Insect Diagrams offer opportunities for students, educators, and leaders to learn from one another.
Brent Spirnak
A woman labeled COACH and a man labeled TEACHER sit together at a table in a classroom with blue chairs. The coach is speaking while the teacher reviews papers, possibly discussing a Student Work Protocol.
Looking at Student Work Protocol
A 40-minute protocol for looking at student work and preparing for the next day’s math lesson.
Nate LeBoffe

Deeper Learning & PBL

See all deeper learning & PBL content

A person uses carving tools to engrave a design onto a small block, with a pencil, paper showing a sketch, and a laptop on the wooden table—blending creative soul with organized system in their workspace.
System & Soul
Deeper learning and continuous improvement are answers to different halves of the same question. The future of schooling, and the future of our communities, depends on our willingness to reintegrate things we have allowed to drift apart
Jim May
Three men are standing side by side, smiling at the camera. Their expressions reflect a spirit of deeper learning and continuous improvement, with the man on the left in a black shirt, the middle in blue, and the right in a light-colored jacket.
Deeper Learning or Continuous Improvement: Why Not Both?
In this live crossover event for the National Summit on Improvement in Education and the Deeper Learning Conference, Alec Patton interviews Ben Daley, Jim May, and Ash Vasudeva about what deeper learning and continuous improvement have to offer each other.
Alec Patton, Ben Daley, Jim May, Ash Vasudeva

From the Latest Issue

A group of adults sits at tables in a classroom, working together on laptops. Some people are collaborating and pointing at screens, discussing strategic communication, while charts and notes on reducing absenteeism are posted on the wall behind them.
Starting Strong, Staying Strong: Reducing Chronic Absenteeism Through Strategic Communication
Our regional attendance network designed a sequenced communication cadence that rolls out in three waves: a “Start Strong” attendance campaign in the fall, followed by winter and spring campaigns. Early evidence suggests that such campaigns positively impact attendance not only during the campaign but continue to produce positive impacts for a short time afterwards.
Bill Eagle, Ashley Goetz
A man holding a microphone and notebook speaks to a seated audience, while another man in a blue vest stands nearby. Behind them, a colorful sign reads Deeper Learning—a system embraced by many attendees in matching blue shirts.
The Cypher, The Stoop, The System
Improvement isn’t just a method. It’s culture.
Jeff Boxill
A man in a suit speaks into a microphone on stage at the National Summit for Improvement, featured in Unboxed Issue 30, while another man sits and smiles. An attentive audience watches them, with a blue banner visible in the background.
Welcome To Unboxed Issue 30
In April, I had the great pleasure of moderating a “crossover” panel that spanned the Deeper Learning Conference and the National Summit on Improvement in Education. 
Alec Patton
A photo collage shows a child speaking into a megaphone in the top image, and in the bottom image, another child spreads batter on a tray—proof that things are always better together.
Better Together
Four fourth grade classes researched a community group, carried out fieldwork, and took school-wide action in that role.
Ingrid Puche, Milena Carmona
Cover of “Unboxed” Issue 30, Spring 2026, shows two people in welding helmets working with metal as sparks fly. The tagline reads, A Journal of Adult Learning in Schools, with featured articles listed at the bottom.

Issue 30: Spring 2026

This issue explores how deeper learning and continuous improvement come alive through the stories, reflections, and questions educators are wrestling with every day. From building belonging for immigrant and multilingual learners to amplifying student voice across schools including Brazil, Portugal, and Argentina, the articles highlight what becomes possible when schools center collaboration, inquiry, and authentic learning.
explore this issue

Math

See all math content

A woman labeled COACH and a man labeled TEACHER sit together at a table in a classroom with blue chairs. The coach is speaking while the teacher reviews papers, possibly discussing a Student Work Protocol.
Looking at Student Work Protocol
A 40-minute protocol for looking at student work and preparing for the next day’s math lesson.
Nate LeBoffe
A collage of six photos depicting people creating sea creature costumes and models, including a turtle and various fish, captures the mystery of the oceans, all displayed against a bright blue background.
Oceans of Mystery
Seventh graders used proportional reasoning and scale factors to build accurate, scaled papier-mâché models of their ocean species.
Caitlin Keane, Kathryn Pond

Literacy

See all literacy content

A woman in a light-colored blazer speaks into a microphone during the Mississippi Miracle event. She has braided hair tied back and is shown in profile against a purple and white background.
The Mississippi Miracle Demystified
In this live recording from the 2026 National Summit for Improvement in Education, Partners in School Innovation CEO Derek Mitchell interviews Tenette Smith and Elise Brown about their roles in Mississippi's extraordinary improvement in reading, and how they are bringing the lessons from that into their new work in Maryland.
Tenette Smith, Elise Brown, Derek Mitchell
How to Package a Process, with Bedtime in a Box
Sofía Tannenhaus talks to Jarrod Bolte, CEO of both Improving Education and Bedtime in a Box, a nonprofit that provides families with boxes containing everything you need for a positive bedtime routine. Each Box contains four age-appropriate books; bath wash, a towel, and bath toys; a toothbrush and toothpaste; pajamas; a stuffed animal; an alarm clock; a Teach My Learning Kit; and a kid-friendly routine log. Bedtime in a Box has delivered more than 50,000 Boxes so far, with 80% going to families experiencing poverty.
Jarrod Bolte, Sofía Tannenhaus

STEM

See all stem content

Solar for All Schools [guest episode from the Climify podcast]
This episode comes from the Climify podcast, which is hosted by Eric Benson, and produced by the Climate Designers Network. Benson interviews Tish Tablan, senior program director at Generation 180, about how going solar can benefit schools' budgets and provide opportunities for PBL, as well as helping us all thrive as we face an unprecedented climate crisis.
Eric Benson, Tish Tablan
HTe Imagineering: A Cultural Journey
Fifth graders designed themed park lands based on cultural characteristics to inform their engineering and design choices.
Bailey Kleis, Jenny Merrill, Jeff Govoni

Arts

See all arts content

A person stands on tiptoe, reaching up to adjust colorful artwork as part of a thoughtful curation on a gallery-style wall lined with various framed and unframed art pieces in a well-lit, modern space.
More Than Decoration
This collection of curated student work spans the hallways of High Tech High schools. See examples and take the techniques so you can use the ones that will work on your school.
Unboxed Staff
A person with short brown hair and glasses smiles slightly while looking at the camera, set against a soft gradient background—reflecting the spirit of the Honor A Life project.
A Project to Honor A Life: The Imagine Mural
Alec Patton talks to Patrick Yurick about how High Tech High Chula Vista came together to create a mural as a memorial to one of its students, Sean Fuchs. This episode is about a disturbing subject—we don't recommend listening with kids around.
Alec Patton, Patrick Yurick

Leadership

See all leadership content

Several people sit at tables in a classroom, working together on laptops. Three adults in the foreground share lessons learned, surrounded by notebooks and coffee cups, while more groups collaborate on school improvement projects in the background.
Lessons We Learned from Leading School Improvement Networks
What happens when you bring together two dozen schools—from rural K-12s to large urban high schools—with the shared goal of reducing chronic absenteeism?
Allyson Fritz, Casondra Gerlich, Malorie Kahl
Liberating Learning One District At a Time
In this episode, Dr. Michelle Sadrena Pledger, CORE Districts' Chief of Improvement David Montes de Oca, and Dr. Stacey Caillier explore how educators are transforming systems using ideas from Liberate: Pocket-Sized Paradigms for Liberatory Learning. Listen in for stories, strategies, and a vision for what’s possible when we dare to liberate learning — one district at a time.
Dr. Michelle Sadrena Pledger, David Montes de Oca, Stacey Caillier

Elementary School

See all elementary school content

A group of first graders wearing safety glasses gather around a table with plants and bottles, observing a science experiment as part of a classroom community project.
How We Co-Designed a Project on Community with First Graders
In this article, two educators from Avenues The World School in São Paulo share how a community-themed project gave their students genuine agency—with results that range from hosting science fairs to cooking breakfast for the school kitchen team.
Milena Carmona, Ingrid Puche
Forces At Play!
Third graders at High Tech Elementary designed and built cardboard arcade games based on simple machines like levers, pulleys, and inclined planes
Samantha Lee, Jessica Amante, Jordan Fields, Sinyoung Choi

Middle School

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Why PBLWorks’ Bryon Demerson Went from Test Prep to PBL in Math
Alec Patton talks to PBLWorks Lead National Faculty in Math Bryon Demerson about what led him to shift from being a highly successful "traditional" math teacher to embracing project-based learning.
Bryon Demerson, Alec Patton
A postcard showcases a night sky with constellations forming a snake, silhouetted trees below, and the enchanting words Había Una Vez... in the upper left corner, inviting you to a world where stories come alive under starlit skies.
Habia Una Vez
Students engaged in an interdisciplinary project exploring indigenous cultures, delving into the impacts of colonization and creating constellations inspired by storytelling traditions
Vanessa Medellin, Matt Chapman, Tracy French

High School

See all high school content

How We Put On A High School Music Festival
We came up with the idea of planning and putting on a music festival. We looked at each other, paused, then simultaneously said, “Naaahhh.”
Oscar Carrion
A collage titled Light on Literacy features three images within a white frame: the top reveals a shadow puppet show, the middle captures a lively group gathered around a board game, and the bottom displays someone adjusting a magnifying glass. Vintage drawings gracefully adorn the frame edges.
Light on Literacy
Kinder buddies were the audience for the design and creation of literacy lanterns by 9th grade students at HTHCV
Ted Cuevas
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