Curriculum
Our innovative curriculum is designed to:
- Give learners agency (a voice and choice on path and pace)
- Expect each learner to master each concept before moving on
- Connect to real-world experiences
- Weave in wellness, mindfulness, and habits of mind
- Foster design thinking—to critically look at the questions, hypothesize, research solutions, create models, revise, share with an audience
- Invite learners to join throughout the year and receive partial credit (vs. none in many systems) for less than a semester of work
- Put the learning IN the school day with many teachers present to support higher level thinking and creating
- Focus on content without grouping learners into limiting single-year age cohorts
- Allow various methods of demonstrating knowledge
- Create interdisciplinary connections
- Allow multiple revisions/attempts at gaining mastery (like Einstein and Edison had!)
- Build in multiple tiers of support (MTSS) with guidance from a team of specialists
- Nudge 11th and 12th grade learners to try a Running Start class or internship
- Be engaging and fun!
We invite you to come to a virtual open house August-May and visit our school during the school year. Prospective students are encouraged to spend a day and experience the welcoming, engaging, happy learning experience that is LEADPrep.
Core Course Overview by Cohort
Base Camp Exploration, embedding English/Language Arts course requirements and Writer’s Workshop
Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
Individually Paced Math
Science and STEM
Fridays
Service-Learning and Experiential Projects
Physical Education
Offerings
Base Camp Exploration, embedding English/Language Arts course requirements and Writer’s Workshop
Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
Individually Paced Math
Science and STEM
Spanish
Wednesdays
Student-Driven Projects
Internships
Offerings
Base Camp
LEADPrep is project-based and this year students are designing their own projects! Beginning with their passions, they explore various aspects. Following a self-paced process, they work independently with adult coaching. For high school students, this process can lead to job shadowing and Wednesday internships.
Offerings
Following a typical “electives” format, Offerings allow students a choice in how they fill out their afternoon schedules and meet their credit requirements. Students aren’t always able to get their first choice, but the goal of Offerings is to provide multiple small group, specialized classes of 4-8 students, so that rather than all having to take the same art class, for example, students have the choice to meet their art credit by taking Photography, Exploring Comics, Music Appreciation, Drama, or Intro to Fine Arts.
Offerings have included classes such as:
Book Group
DnD Social Skills
Music Appreciation
Spanish
HIgh School and Beyond
Beginning Art
Photography
Hollywood vs. History
Persuasive Writing
Exploring Comics
Cooking Basics
Game Design
Service Learning
Fridays LEARNING AND SERVING IN THE COMMUNITY
Being “place-based” means connecting with the community. Today, technology serves a great role in education but can isolate or lessen the sense of community. LEADPrep believes in walking the talk of our school values of diversity, empathy and exploration. To do so, we forge community within our walls and within the community. Our interdisciplinary studies embed learning from resources beyond our classrooms and give back to provide service to others. Wednesdays are spent as one school (both campuses together) in service, on field trips, with guest speakers, and in nature. For the High School cohort Fridays also mean passion project exploration, job shadow and internships in the community.
Expeditionary Learning
WEEK WITHOUT WALLS
Putting aside the daily schedule to do a “deep dive” creates rich learning opportunities. LEADPrep uses this Week Without Walls (WWW) model three times throughout the school year: in the Fall, between semesters in late January and in the Spring. A school-wide camping trip and environmental service guided by Mountains to Sound Greenway are two of these WWWs. Additionally, there is a week of intensives where students can pick from a variety of options and explore interests in small groups for a week, culminating by sharing out with the rest of the school.
Learning needs to become an ongoing experience…not based on books or sitting at desks. Our WWW model makes sure we use a broad and deep definition of engaged learning!
In-Person Schedule 2023-24
School Calendar and Events
While students may enroll throughout the school year, we operate on a traditional September through June schedule and calendar.
Click to view.