Ask The Experts: How Does A Mastery School Prepare Students?

Q: How does a mastery school prepare students for the future in ways a traditional high school does not?

A: “Mastery school is a whole high school built around project- and problem-based learning,” says Julia Griffin, director of the Mastery School of Hawken. “When you go out into the world, the way that you are evaluated is about what you know and what you can do. There’s so much about the traditional model of school that is all about just being the best individual contributor you can be, and you’re in competition with your peers, rather than really collaborating. [Mastery school] students work on a series of challenges with community partners. And students have to work on teams with real-world deadlines and deliverables to share back with that community partner what they’ve come up with. That’s really the backbone of the experience.”