School Reboot

Leading Change: How leaders can create a culture of risk-taking and bring meaningful change across an entire school district

What does it take to move innovation from a “nice to have” to the way an entire district works?

In this episode, Wendy Crocker-Roberge joins Courtney Dickinson and Sarah Zuckerman to talk about what it takes to create meaningful, lasting change in public education.

Wendy reflects on her own journey through public education and shares how those experiences shaped her approach as an educator and leader. The conversation explores giving educators permission to think differently, creating a culture where thoughtful risk-taking is supported, learning from what does not work, and building the momentum needed for innovation to spread across schools.

Wendy also shares what this has looked like in Lowell, from early experimentation at individual schools to a growing movement across the district.

Amanda Seider joins School Reboot to explore how schools can replace luck with a system of postsecondary advising that gives every student the information, relationships, tools, and agency to choose what comes next. The conversation connects OneGoal’s work in high schools with AceraEI’s commitment to student voice, choice, curiosity, and purpose.

In this episode of School Reboot, Alison Earnhart, a science and engineering educator and makerspace leader, explores how any teacher can bring engineering and project-based learning into the classroom. Drawing from her work with students and educators, Alison explains how meaningful student choice, practical constraints, clear rubrics, milestones, reflection, and self-assessment can give young people both creative freedom and the support they need to succeed. The conversation also examines committed engagement, learning through iteration, inclusive pathways into STEM, and ways schools can make hands-on engineering part of everyday learning.

Heather, head of Acera School, joins Courtney and Sarah to explore what happens when schools make room for children’s questions, passions, and individual ways of learning. Through stories from Acera School, they discuss the unique needs of gifted learners’ meaningful challenges, student choice, adventure play, and math that goes deeper than acceleration.

The conversation asks a bigger question: How can schools keep curiosity alive and help students become confident learners who know themselves and can shape their communities?

In this episode of School Reboot, Courtney Dickinson and Sarah Zuckerman talk with Steve Seidel and Adria Steinberg, longtime education leaders and founding members of the Group School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Steve and Adria reflect on what it means to build a school around student voice, choice, trust, and democratic decision-making. They share how the Group School challenged traditional compliance-based models by listening deeply to students, honoring their lived realities, and giving them real agency in their learning.

The conversation explores how schools can move from control to consent, from punishment to understanding, and from rigid systems to flexible communities where students are known, respected, and invited to take ownership of their education. Together, they offer a powerful reminder that meaningful school change begins with trust, belonging, and listening.

In this episode of School Reboot, Courtney Dickinson and Sarah Zuckerman talk with Steve Seidel and Adria Steinberg, longtime education leaders and founding members of the Group School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Steve and Adria reflect on what it means to build a school around student voice, choice, trust, and democratic decision-making. They share how the Group School challenged traditional compliance-based models by listening deeply to students, honoring their lived realities, and giving them real agency in their learning.

The conversation explores how schools can move from control to consent, from punishment to understanding, and from rigid systems to flexible communities where students are known, respected, and invited to take ownership of their education. Together, they offer a powerful reminder that meaningful school change begins with trust, belonging, and listening.

In Part 2 of this School Reboot conversation, Courtney Dickinson and Sarah Zuckerman continue their discussion with Mike Domina, Principal of McAvinnue Elementary School, and David Anderson, Principal of McAuliffe Elementary School, both in Lowell Public Schools.

Together, they explore how schools can rethink assessment, student choice, collaboration, and the definition of success in public education. Mike and David reflect on the power of giving students more ownership in their school day, from flexible seating and independent choices to lunch, hallways, and transitions that feel more human and community-centered.

The conversation also looks closely at standardized testing, including the limits of MCAS as a measure of learning. Mike and David discuss why one test cannot fully capture student growth, creativity, persistence, or the rich learning happening in classrooms every day. They imagine more meaningful alternatives, including portfolios, authentic artifacts of learning, and stronger opportunities for teachers to collaborate across schools.

This episode offers a hopeful look at what becomes possible when public school leaders trust teachers, center students, and create space for joy, rigor, creativity, and real-world learning.

In this episode of School Reboot, Courtney Dickinson and Sarah Zuckerman talk with two public school leaders from Lowell who are rethinking what school can feel like for students and teachers.

Mike Domina of McAvinnue Elementary and David Anderson of McAuliffe Elementary reflect on what it takes to build schools where joy, trust, and belonging are not extras, but the foundation for learning. They talk about moving beyond compliance-driven models of teaching, giving teachers permission to take risks, and creating school cultures where both adults and students feel supported to try, fail, and grow.

The conversation explores how innovative leadership is often less about adding more and more about removing fear. Mike and David share how they challenge assumptions about curriculum, instructional time, and “the way things have always been done,” while keeping student engagement and community at the center. Together, they offer a grounded and hopeful look at what sustainable school change can look like in practice.

This episode explores how schools can balance well-being and achievement without sacrificing rigor. With guest Anne Anderson of Denmark’s Playful Learning Project, we examine how playful, inclusive learning strengthens academic skills, supports neurodiverse students, and builds belonging.

The conversation challenges deficit-based systems, highlights practical classroom shifts, and reframes play as intentional inquiry, practice, and problem-solving. When educators design learning with choice, flexibility, and courage, schools become places of joy, purpose, and deep learning, not compliance or fear.

Recorded live at the School Reboot Podcast Release Party, this episode brings together previous guests Jeff Riley and Mitch Resnick for a conversation with Courtney Dickinson and Sarah Zuckerman about what schools must become in a rapidly changing world.

Jeff and Mitch explore how schools can move beyond compliance-driven models and instead nurture creativity, curiosity, agency, and deeper learning. We delve into why students learn best through meaningful projects, collaboration, and playful exploration, and why school change cannot simply be replicated from one place to another without honoring local context and community strengths.

The episode also examines the promise and danger of AI in education. The central message: this is a pivotal moment to design schools that expand children’s choices, voices, and opportunities, while supporting teachers and leaders to build more human, engaging, and future-ready learning environments.