Today, the Getting Smart team is throwing it back to an interview they did at High Tech High in San Diego back in 2017. While there, they got the chance to chat with HTH leaders, Larry Rosenstock, Jeff Robbins, and Kalem Rashad — who all have such a contagious passion for their students.

In today's interview, they discuss projects, starting new schools, hiring teachers, and why making the city the text is so important. First to be interviewed by Tom is Larry Rosenstock, a carpenter from Massachusetts who started HTH on a run-down navy base. Larry describes how to get started with a school like HTH, how they communicate the work happening at HTH with the community and parents, how students create such incredible, high-quality work, what the enrollment process is like, and how to apply. After Larry, Tom interviews Jeff Robin, a Fine Arts teacher at HTH. In their discussion, he shares a description of the Staircase to Nowhere project (where students design full-size models of staircases to nowhere around the school.) And lastly (but certainly not least), Tom speaks with Kaleb Rashad, Director at HTH, about starting schools.

Key Takeaways:

[:15] About today's episode.

[1:10] Larry describes how to get started with a school like HTH.

[2:22] Larry talks more about the incredible art the students produce at HTH.

[3:10] Larry elaborates how HTH recruits, grows, and keeps teachers at HTH.

[5:10] Larry shares how they communicate the work happening at HTH with the community and parents.

[6:15] Larry talks about the students at HTH, the enrollment process, and what it's like to apply.

[7:30] Larry explains the process that creates the high-quality work the students create.

[7:50] Tom asks where students get feedback.

[7:58] Larry tells a story about skepticism around HTH's achievements around learning and how he helped clear that.

[10:07] Next up, Tom speaks with Jeff Robin, who explains the Staircase to Nowhere project at HTH.

[13:12] Larry talks about the culture at HTH and how they include advisory at the high school level to truly deepen the community on campus.

[14:34] Kaleb Rashad speaks on the topic of starting up a school similar to HTH.

[17:20] Jessica wraps up this week's episode.

Mentioned in This Episode:

High Tech High

Staircase to Nowhere Project

JeffRobin.com

San Diego Museum of Art

Professional Learning that Transforms: Meet High Tech High Graduate School of Education

Promising Practices in Deeper Learning and Equity

High Tech High: Student Engagement Leads to Deeper Learning

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