A School of Our Own: The Story of the First Student-Run High School and a New Vision for American Education

by Samuel Levin, Susan Engel

Overview

The remarkable true story of the high school junior who started his own school—and earned acclaim nationwide—“will make you laugh, cry and cheer” (John Merrow, author of The Influence of Teachers).
 
Samuel Levin, a teenager who had already achieved international fame for creating Project Sprout—the first farm-to-school lunch program in the United States—was frustrated with his own education, and saw disaffection among his peers. In response, he lobbied for and created a new school based on a few simple ideas about what kids need from their high school experience.
 
The school succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest expectations and went on to be featured on NPR and in Newsweek and the Washington Post. Since its beginnings in 2010, the Independent Project serves as a national model for inspiring student engagement.
 
In creating his school, Samuel collaborated with Susan Engel, the noted developmental psychologist, educator, and author—and Samuel’s mother. A School of Our Own is their account of their life-changing year in education, a book that combines poignant stories, educational theory, and practical how-to advice for building new, more engaging educational environments for our children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620971529
Publisher:	New Press, The
Publication date:	09/06/2016
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	1,122,111
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments iv

Introduction 1

1 Realize You Need One 5

2 Design It 25

3 Build It 49

4 Your First Day 79

5 Assume Everyone Is an Intellectual 101

6 Require Mastery 125

7 Overcome Obstacles, Together 145

8 Open Your Door to be Community 165

Postscript 177

Appendix: Extra Nuts and Bolts 181

Editorial Reviews

06/20/2016
Developmental psychologist Engel (The End of the Rainbow) and her son Levin explore radical ideas about secondary education in this intriguing analysis, which focuses on an innovative program Levin initiated at his own high school in Massachusetts called the Independent Project. Launched in 2011, when Levin was a junior, the Independent Project developed from a single question: “Is there an inherent reason why teenagers in our culture must spend the bulk of their time in settings that are confining, rigid, ugly and disconnect from their communities?” The answer, according to Levin and Engel, is no, and the proof is given in the successful implementation of the Independent Project. A defining feature of the school is its simple structure: half the day is designated for “ an individual endeavor” and the other half for self-directed academics, divided again between the sciences and math and language arts. The book, aimed at school administrators as well as parents and students, recounts the students’ many small victories as well as the many obstacles they faced while outlining the steps in the implementation process. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Susan Engel's and Sam Levin's A School of Our Own:
"This wonderfully written and inspiring book will make you laugh, cry and cheer. I predict most readers will also give copies to friends and acquaintances who care about children and their schooling, and I'm praying that at least one of them knows the President of the United States."
—John Merrow, education correspondent for PBS NewsHour, president of Learning Matters, and author of The Influence of Teachers and Choosing Excellence

"What a great mother and son story and one with a happy ending. It brings back many memories of mothering and teaching. I wish I could start again and design a school, this time alongside of students, with a Sam to prod us along. This is a must-read for all of us of any age."
—Deborah Meier, author of Will Standards Save Public Education? and founder of the Small Schools movement

"In both form and content, unlike anything that I've ever read. The educational experiences it describes are unique."
—Howard Gardner, Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education and author of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness Reframed

Praise for Susan Engel's The End of the Rainbow:
"Engel…offers an incisive prescription for America's sagging educational system."
—Publishers Weekly

"What, in our hearts, do we wish for our children, and how can schools be designed to help make those wishes come true? These are the most fundamental questions we can ask when thinking about schooling, and in this book Susan Engel combines good sense and empirical research to help us think about them."
—Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life

"A most enjoyable and provocative read, The End of the Rainbow invites readers to consider the purpose of schooling. Through anecdote and the use of scientific research, Engel makes the argument that schools aim for productivity rather than happiness, with the latter falling by the wayside."
—Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, author of How Babies Talk, Einstein Never Used Flash Cards, and A Mandate for Playful Learning in Preschool

From the Publisher

06/15/2016
This account of the first student-run high school in America is told in alternating passages by a high school junior and his mother. Levin, who went on to graduate from Oxford University, had already founded Project Sprout, a student-run farm that grew food used for school lunches. His mother, Engel, teaches psychology at Williams College, MA, and is the author of The End of the Rainbow, among other books. Levin, increasingly frustrated and bored in the classroom, came up with a plan to launch the Independent Project, a student-run school in western Massachusetts. Mother and son each provide accounts of the students involved and the successes and problems of the project, and readers are encouraged to think about creating their own programs. As in Angela Duckworth's Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, Levin learned how fortitude, here composed of a passionate involvement in his own education, and the perseverance needed to sell administrators on his concept and try ideas and see what worked and what didn't, can bring about results, and in this case, revitalize high school curriculum. VERDICT Recommended for students, parents, teachers, and administrators, as well as anyone concerned about the current state of the U.S. educational system.—Elizabeth Safford, Boxford Town Lib., MA

Library Journal

2016-06-12
The story behind one young man's alternative school within a school.By the time Levin reached his junior year, like many kids his age, he had resigned himself to having a couple of great classes, a few he hated, and the rest that were boring. He had interests outside of school that helped him get through his days, but what made him angry was how those with nothing beyond the regimented school day were missing out on life. They weren't being stimulated in school and had no projects or part-time jobs to engage them. So Levin took matters into his own hands and started his own school. With the support of his mother, Engel (Developmental Psychology/Williams Coll.; The Hungry Mind: The Origins of Curiosity in Childhood, 2015, etc.), and other adults in his high school—and after months of planning—Levin created the Independent Project, a student-run school. The school focused on the students' interests and passions rather than required curriculum. Though the plan incorporated some traditional subjects, Levin and his team switched things up by aligning science with the humanities and English with math. In alternating voices, Levin and Engel tell the story of how the IP evolved, giving readers an inside look at the entire journey, including the first irritated moments that sparked the original idea, getting approval from the school board, recruiting students, and initiating a trial semester. The authors address their triumphs, setbacks, fears, and concerns, analyzing the step-by-step process so that others may follow and create their own independently run schools. For those who have investigated home schooling, Levin's methods are reminiscent of unschooling, the process by which learning occurs on a more personal, interest-driven level, without the need to use conventional grading systems. The authors clearly show that learning can be an invigorating, exciting experience for almost everyone—if approached in the right manner. The concise and passionate story of how a teenager formed his own school that is "intellectually demanding of all its students, no matter what their academic history."

Kirkus Reviews