Bulldog Tech: Learning Is Doing…
A campus in San Jose, CA, is home to two public middle schools, grades 7-8. Students in both venues call themselves Bulldogs - their joint symbol of courage and tenacity.
The host school, George V. LeyVa is a good traditional school where 500+ students have six 45-minute classes a day that cover the four basic content areas plus one period for physical education and one for Pathways, an elective common in many public schools today. Pathways offers students an opportunity to explore a year-long area of personal interest – fine arts, music, STEM, and more – and to share their experience within a cohort.
With its 300 pupils housed in a separate building at the far end of the campus, Bulldog Tech is a student-centered, project-driven, technology enriched, and autonomous school within a school. It is one of over 160 high schools, middle, and elementary schools in the New Tech Network, which has a presence in 29 states across the country.
74-minute classes integrate a core content subject like science, with an elective like art. Two teachers - each highly qualified in one of the two subjects - work in tandem to facilitate problem-solving via projects that students tackle independently, or in collaboration with a partner or group. Connections is an additional program that pairs students with local mentors and businesses to do community service. It helps students connect what they learn with what they do, and they are completely on board.
As one stated: “…I know this is the type of thing I will need to do when I am working in the real world.”
To know that they can make a difference to people has left an impression. Bulldog Tech students really like school and the options it presents. Their enthusiasm, pride, and hopefulness are infectious. Enjoy watching them in the two videos embedded in the article below:
If student-centered, collaboration, independent thinking, problem-solving, project-based learning, real-world learning sound familiar, there is good reason. They are core values of Schools That Work whether as part of a network like Big Picture Learning (January, 2023, Blog) or an independent public school like STAR Academy (August, 2022, Blog). This approach to thinking and learning is where we should be. Where books are not banned for political reasons. Where adults and children work together in harmony. Where friendship and respect replace fear and mistrust. It is about community and opportunity for each of us and all of us – especially for our children.
Bulldog Tech Middle School is part of the series: Schools That Work. Featured schools may have different areas of focus, but they all have intentional cultures and similar values. In the end, Schools That Work help students to find their own identity as members of their community and to imagine possibilities for themselves as future global citizens. Knowing who you are, where you belong, how to respect and relate to others, and why it all matters is the process of discovery that we are undertaking in this series. Please contact me with your comments and questions.
Unpacking Education, Newsletter No. 22, Question of the Day Answer:
The correct answer is d) project-based learning because it embodies collaboration, relationship-building, student voice and choice and produces the social/emotional well-being that comes from mutual respect, personal pride, and the sense of being part of a community.