I am always looking for signals about the future of education. What are the developing practices and trends that are going to stick?
Monday afternoon we toured a team of educators from Hangzhou Yungu Chinese School around both our Los Gatos and San Jose campuses. They were interested in visiting us to learn more about our approach to education, including our reach beyond programming and our developing competency-based architecture that we are implementing in the Upper School.
As we spent time with them it became clear that they were extremely impressive in their own right. Indeed, they are one of the most innovative and intentional schools with which I have connected in many years. In particular, they are a school that, like Hillbrook, has rejected APs and instead fully embraced an advanced studies track and a competency-based structure. They use performance based assessments, instead of more traditional measures, and student advancement is based on mastery (not seat time). They are the only school in China to be part of the Mastery Transcript Consortium, a group Hillbrook joined in the last few years and includes many of the top independent schools in the country. Their principal, Kevin Wang, joined them after being the principal at Beijing No. 4, widely recognized as the top high school in China.
The results? They just graduated their first class of seniors, and the numbers were impressive. 80 percent of their graduates are attending American universities, including top schools like Yale, Cornell, and NYU. They used a Mastery Based Transcript, instead of a more traditional transcript, and colleges and universities not only didn’t express concern, but were impressed with the depth of learning displayed. Their graduates, it is clear, have demonstrated that they have developed the knowledge and skills to thrive in college.
This is a school that is committed to reimagining what school can be, and it is making a compelling case that students participating in this type of program are achieving excellent results in college placements and, more importantly, are more well-prepared for college and life.
At Hillbrook, we have been making this case for years, and connecting with Hangzhou Yungu Chinese School only affirms that we are on the right track. I encourage you to Google it and see for yourself.
Before I retired from Crystal Springs, I discovered the work of MTC and the school
Joined other independent schools to learn about the extraordinary movement the consortium envisioned. I’m impressed and elated that Hillbrook is exploring how MTC might fit into its new upper school. Bravo. I can’t wait to see what the future of the Hillbrook curriculum.