Hello Casey’s Class

It has been a hot minute since I last posted! Sorry to keep you all hanging… So this week I wanted to share a bit about my field trip to PSII and my thoughts on how this school works and my personal pros and cons!

Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII) is a high school this is very different than the “normal” high school that most of us probably went to. When you walk in there is a big open space where everyone is working on a computer, chatting, collaborating, and working on projects that they chose. Then off to the sides there are a few small rooms with glass windows and then at the back there is a quiet room. So basically in a nutshell this school is super cool. Instead of it looking like a typical school, the space is much like an office where everyone is working and has a place. Anyways I am sure you don’t care what it looks like and just what to know why the heck this school is so cool and my thoughts.. right?

PSII, like other BC high schools follow the BC curriculum however, they do it a little differently. Each person in the school is set up with an individual learning plan made by the student and teacher so that the students can facilitate their own education… cool right! Then, based on what passions, interests, and or questions a student has on a topic(s) they get to build their education around those ideas which is also known as inquiry based learning. So how does PSII ensure that students meet the BC requirements? Well… students will participate in a class in each subject once a week. For example instead of a normal high school making you do 1 million hours of math a week and confuse you then you fail because you have know idea what the heck is going on… PSII makes you take one math class each week which then allows students to comprehend the info and or allow them to set up one-on-one meetings with a teacher to ask questions to ensure they fully understand. Students will have check-ins to see about where the teachers think they are on the scale of you know B+,A-,A,A+ you get the point. And then, what’s even cooler is that students get this feedback and are told what they need to do in order to get their mark up and they get to decide whether or not they want to go the extra mile. So have I convinced you yet to check out this school? Well I know it sounds pretty great so what could my cons be? As you all know, I have a lot of experience working with individuals with diverse abilities. This school, although really awesome in what they do, they don’t really do special ed. So although it is an inclusive school where learning is tailored to the students.. if you look close it isn’t that inclusive. A lot of my clients need a structured routine, rigid schedule, and one-on-one support. On my visit I did ask this question of “how does this school support people with diverse abilities?” The answer I got was great however not 100% what I had hoped. For individuals who have autism who are lower on the spectrum and for those with anxiety and or depression thrive in this environment. However the school did say that they aren’t set up to be specialized in special education. But since everyone gets an individualized plan and can set up a strict schedule for themselves and make one-on-one meetings with teachers, it can be a great space for these individuals to grow and thrive in.

So this school is super awesome and the students that I talked to are so passionate about their schooling and the teachers are rockin it! So my question I leave here with you all is, how can we use the ideas that PSII is implementing but also collaborate to make it accessible to everyone’s individual needs?

Check out below PSII’s competencies and core values!

Wow that was a long blog… thanks for stickin it out with me! Until next time C’s Class.

XO