How Might We Make School Life More Reflective of Real Life?: Experience how Mount Vernon looks at the whole child (PK-12), looking through the lens of real-world project work. Topics will include Design Thinking, Inquiry Based Learning; Inter/Multi/Transdisciplinary Learning, Innovative and Flexible Spaces, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Competency Based Education: Focus on Personalization: We’ll introduce the foundations of Competency-based learning and then dive into the methods, tools and systems for discerning, mapping, and informing a rigorous learning journey. Our main focus will be on personalizing learning through varied pacing and different pathways based on learners’ curiosities, passions, and proficiency levels including planning for and implementing differentiated instruction, using assessment data to guide learning, incorporating learner self-assessment, and documenting the learning journey.

Innovation Leadership: How might we implement practices and systems to fuel innovation within PK-12 schools? We’ll share our Mount Vernon School innovation story and highlight elements of our school culture that fuel and sustain innovation including systems for collaborative planning, professional development, implementation of innovative learning models, learning walks, instructional rounds, and faculty professional goals, evaluations, and reflection.

Each participant will travel with an MV expert on a learning walk, receive instruction and guidance about respective School models, and debrief with faculty members during lunch.

How do we really measure learning growth? This is an experiential workshop focused on implementing equitable, Competency-based assessment practices into a variety of real-world, school settings. Participants will learn about four features of the MV assessment system – rigorous, common expectations; authentic assessment; proficiency-based grading; and Reflection and Goal-setting. This workshop prompts participants to explore both pedagogy, like the purpose of assessment, and practice, applying tools and strategies for assessment, grading, and data-driven differentiation.