![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
The new school: innovators pioneer experimental schools in the California Bay Area
February 3, 2016
In the past few years, various experimental schools have opened in California, from Khan Lab School in Mountain View to Brightworks and AltSchool, both in San Francisco.
Experimental schools, or alternative schools, are educational institutions that implement a unique, innovative style of learning. Common features between these schools include later start times, smaller class sizes and mixed age groups.
Khan Lab School, founded by Salman Khan of Khan Academy, opened in Mountain View in September of 2014. The school is a non-profit independent organization that provides education for students of ages five to twelve, and homework and grades are completely eliminated from the project-based curriculum. Each day, Khan Lab School starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m.
Brightworks, based in San Francisco and established in 2011, is a K-12 charter school that places students in mixed-age learning groups, enabling them to learn from their classmates and be exposed to knowledge that is outside the scope of their age group. Constructed warehouse-style, the alternative school is complete with an art studio, an observation science lab, and a no-shoes play area for students of all ages.
These schools place emphasis upon resourcefulness and creativity of their students instead of their ability to take tests. The goal of experimental schools is to engage children in the classroom, and for them to learn free from the stresses of conventional schools. In addition, while reducing overall stress rates among students, schools that employ the experimental model produce substantially fewer student dropouts.
According to Brightworks school founding staff member and program coordinator Justine Macauley, learning in a low-stress environment free from the expectations of conventional high schools enables students to grow and become more innovative human beings.
“A lot of schools, because there are a lot of expectations about grades and tests and homework, it drives up that sort of stress where the expectations that students have are not necessarily beneficial to their health and their overall growth,” Macauley said. “It’s more important for students to be resourceful and creative rather than knowing how to take tests, to work, and to follow curriculum directions.”
Another experimental education facility, AltSchool, was founded in San Francisco and has many other locations opening this year in Palo Alto. Open to students from Pre-K to eighth grade, the school removes grade level barriers among the students and encourages them to be highly involved in STEM domains. In addition, AltSchool’s San Francisco branches offer all students personalized language programs, allowing them to develop proficiency in foreign languages from Spanish to German.
Max Ventilla, CEO and founder of AltSchool, strongly believes that world-class education should be accessible to everyone in order to create a better society.
“Education is critically important not just for this country, but for the world and to improve what’s wrong with the world and to make the world the type of place that we want to be in,” Ventilla said. “We shouldn’t just have a tiny sliver of the population that receives what we would all agree is a first rate education.”
This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on Jan. 27, 2016
