After months of exploration through the Passport to Change program—a unique partnership with Virgin Atlantic—students culminated their project-based learning experience by pitching their own airline concepts to a panel of volunteers from Virgin Atlantic and…
A Conversation with Laura Peña-Telfer, PhD, K–12 STEAM Project-Based Learning (PBL) Instructional Coach At Purpose Built Schools Atlanta, learning goes beyond textbooks and classrooms. It’s connected to real-world challenges, community partnerships, and scholars’ lived experiences….
Bethany Thomas, a dedicated computer science and robotics teacher for middle and high school students at Purpose Built Schools Atlanta, was recently featured in the PBL World Participant Spotlight Series for her impactful involvement in…
The 2020-21 school year faced unprecedented challenges. Our students, like students across the state and nation, inevitably experienced a learning gap due to the pandemic and school closures. For our students, the shuttering of schools has resulted in a slow-moving tragedy, both from an academic standpoint and from a social-emotional health perspective.
Project-based learning (PBL) has always been a mainstay of Purpose Built Schools. But during a pandemic, the practice of PBL became more important than ever.
Price Middle School students created new student handbooks for their first project-based learning (PBL) unit of the year. By examining local politics, the pandemic and social justice, students worked together to develop a set of shared school principles, policies and processes to help create a positive school culture–in person and online.
By Diona Williams PBL Coordinator at Purpose Built Schools Atlanta When COVID-19 arrived in Atlanta last spring, our buildings closed abruptly and virtual school was–unexpectedly and quickly–in session. We made the most of an unprecedented…
By Diona Williams PBL Coordinator at Purpose Built Schools Atlanta At Purpose Built Schools Atlanta, we define ourselves as a group of individuals who are committed to racial justice and equity. We empower students to…
In 2017, Day brought The Schenck School’s Head of School, Josh Clark, for a meeting at and tour of Slater Elementary. As a result of that meeting, an official partnership formed between The Schenck School and Purpose Built Schools Atlanta for Schenck to provide direct reading services to students through The Dyslexia Resource, an outreach program of The Schenck School.
When Ayanna Burroughs, a teacher at Thomasville Heights Elementary School (THES), reached out to Tania Herbert, Urban Agriculture Coordinator at The Paideia School, she hoped to learn from Paideia’s thriving farm program so she could start one at THES. Both educators, located in very different parts of the city–southeast Atlanta and Druid Hills, wanted to encourage students to make change in their communities by learning how to decrease food insecurity through urban farming.
