The U School
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Our Vision

We Love. We Dream. We Do. Students are given real world opportunities to apply knowledge and fulfill their greatest potential. Those who use the school are empowered with responsibility to create the world for themselves.

Our Mission

The U School readies ALL young people for college and careers by supporting students to accept challenges and opportunities through: student agency, real-world problem-solving, developing engaging high-quality products with the purpose of demonstrating mastery , and to push the boundaries of seat time through asynchronous learning.


Our values:

Love

We believe that TRUST, SAFETY, SUPPORT and HONESTY represent the basic ingredients of a healthy connection

We believe that all humans possess PASSION

We believe that JOY is derived from human passion

We believe that EMPATHY is a connection-building and marketable skill

We believe AGENCY represents the power of making choice for yourself and/or those around you.

DREAM

We believe that appropriate CHALLENGE is the basis of all great learning

We believe that CREATIVITY is a lens to solve problems

We believe that RISK-TAKING and MISTAKES are learning opportunities

We believe that COLLABORATION and NETWORKS are launch pads for success

DREAM-MAKING  represents the alignment of passion and purpose

Do

We believe that people learn by DOING

We believe that doing is difficult, and creation is EMPOWERING

We believe that GROWTH represents individual adaptation to adversity 

We believe that PERSISTENCE is an indicator of future success

We believe that REFLECTING about where you and what you have done are is as important as the process of getting there

​ALIGNMENT OF VALUES, CORE PROCESS AND  EXPERTISE

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The U School commits to making the core processes as legible as possible for all users. Below you will see a visualization of the alignment of values, the design process, skills and ideas about what that might look like. 


KEY MODEL ELEMENTS

the model

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The U School's instructional model includes some of  the following elements:
  • Youth development focus: all students will join an advisory team (called Posse) with peers and a mentor educator who will design and create a vibrant high school experience; Posse will support goal-setting, college and career planning, and strong engagement with families to support learner growth.
  • Personalized learning: every learner is supported in developing a personalized learning plan (PLP) and designing their learning pathway so that it reflects learner interests, needs, and aspirations.
  • Competency-based education: learning goals are organized as "competencies" - the knowledge and skills learners must successfully apply in order to solve real world problems. Learners only advance once they have demonstrated proficiency of the learning goals. 
  • Design-based learning: learners lead personal and team-based investigations around the "Great Challenges of Our Time," and develop key skills in research, problem-solving, communications, and taking action.

Coming Soon...

THE DATA +The Stories  = Field Guide

PictureThe U School © 2014









Contact Us- Our Non-Profit: 
​Email: [email protected]
Contact Us- Our School: 
​2000 N. 7th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122


​Phone: 215.400.7460
Email: [email protected]

  • HOME
  • Our Non-Profit
    • Non-Profit Team
  • Join Us!
  • About the School Model
    • Mission + Vision + Values
    • Design-Thinking
    • Philadelphia Staff Bios
  • Blog