Webinar Recording: Reimagining Education Through Innovative School Design

In this webinar, Learner-Centered Collaborative’s Jesse Ross hosts a conversation with three educators from Escondido Union School District—Dr. Bryanna Norton, Principal of Hidden Valley Middle School, and North Broadway Elementary teachers, Gina Matthew and Katie Taylor. They share the transformative process of school redesign to foster learner-centered practices. The discussion highlights how strategic design choices, distributed leadership, and project-based learning can reshape educational ecosystems, emphasizing real-world engagement and student agency.

Questions explored include:

  • Why is school redesign critical, and what conditions signal that the time is right for change?
  • What strategies did the panelists use to involve teachers, students, and families in shaping the redesign process?
  • How do microschools, student portfolios, and competency-based assessments fit into a broader learner-centered vision?
  • What early impacts have the redesign efforts had on student engagement, attendance, and teacher collaboration?

Watch now to discover how innovative school designs can empower students and educators, creating dynamic environments where students not only learn but thrive.

Resources Shared During the Webinar:

More From Learner-Centered Collaborative:

It’s Your Journey

Explore More Topics

Blog
Rethinking Time in Schools: From Rigid Blocks to Meaningful Learning
  I recently visited two different schools on back-to-back days, and I was struck by the stark contrast in the schedules and the impact on the learning environment. In the first school, the day was broken up into short blocks of reading, math, intervention, recess, lunch, and science. This type of schedule is often…
Tools
Mindsets Reflection Tool
As we work to create learner-centered environments, examining our own water—our culture, assumptions, and beliefs—is key to cultivating the mindset shifts needed to change the water we’re swimming in. We can do this by visiting other schools implementing learner-centered practices or stepping out of our field and doing analogous experiences. The next time you…
Blog
Why Stepping Outside Your School Could Be Key to Learner-Centered Change
Culture is the foundation of any learner-centered ecosystem. The big blue outer circle, illustrated in Learner-Centered Collaborative’s Ecosystem model, is representative of a big blue body of water we are all swimming in—in our classrooms, schools, and districts. Culture is something we always feel but might not always recognize while we’re in it. We…