| Science Leadership Academy | |
|---|---|
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Learn, Create, Lead
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| Location | |
| 55 North 22nd Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 19103 United States |
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| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 2006 |
| School district | School District of Philadelphia |
| Principal | Christopher Lehmann |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Number of students | 495 (as of 2010) |
| Color(s) | Blue & Black |
| Athletics | Baseball, Softball, Boys and Girls Basketball, Girls Volleyball, Boys and Girls Cross Country, Boys and Girls Soccer, Boys and Girls Track, Co-ed Ultimate Frisbee (Club) |
| Mascot | Rockets |
| Website | www.scienceleadership.org |
The Science Leadership Academy is a magnet public high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which opened in September 2006. SLA is a partnership between The Franklin Institute and the School District of Philadelphia. SLA is a 1:1 project-based laptop school where all students and teachers use Macintosh laptops as their primary learning tool.
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Science Leadership Academy was created by the board of the Franklin Institute and founding principal, Christopher Lehmann. The 'Mission and Visions' page of the school's website describes the school as, "a partnership high school between the School District of Philadelphia and The Franklin Institute. SLA is an inquiry-driven, project-based high school focused on 21st century learning that opened its doors on September 7, 2006. SLA provides a rigorous, college-preparatory curriculum with a focus on science, technology, mathematics and entrepreneurship. Students at SLA learn in a project-based environment where the core values of inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation and reflection are emphasized in all classes." [1]
In Spring 2009, SLA was named an Apple Distinguished School, as of 2009 one of only 33 schools in the nation so named.[2] In addition, SLA was featured in the April 2007 Edutopia Magazine article, "My School, Meet MySpace" where the school is called "... [John] Dewey for the digital age, old-fashioned progressive education with a technological twist."[3]
The school has received speeches from a number of distinguished individuals over the years, including Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who spoke to the students of SLA on Thursday, April 29, 2010 [4] and Steven Squyres, lead researcher on the Mars Land-Rover project who first visited the school in 2007 and was SLA's keynote speaker at their first graduation on June 15, 2010. [5]
In a September 2010 issue of Ladies Home Journal, SLA was named one of ten in "America's Most Amazing Schools". [6]
In October 2010, Apple.com published a case study of SLA on their Education web page. [7]
In March 2011, SLA was featured in the PBS documentary Digital Media: New Learners for the 21st Century.[8]
Each student of SLA, (along with the teachers), receives their own personal Macbook laptop, which they are responsible for throughout the entire school year. The majority of school work is done on the computers through the school's Moodle course-management system. The school also has some of the largest and most extensive lab areas in the entire school district, with four lab classrooms, with two on the 2nd floor and the other two on the 3rd. These classrooms are large in space, combining both a usual SLA classroom along with the lab areas, allowing students to conduct experiments on a regular basis opposed to the occasional one as in many other schools. Students do benchmark projects every quarter to demonstrate the application of their learning, with the aid of the five core values (see below).
The location of the school building was decided upon its proximity to the Franklin Institute, as well as being in the heart of Downtown Philadelphia. The building itself was formerly an office building (for the Human Resources department of the School District of Philadelphia), which was completely renovated for SLA. In total, the building is five stories tall (though the school only uses the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th floors), contains three elevators (reserved for teachers and disabled students only), and three main stairwells, with one that gives access to the 1st-3rd floors, and the other two for the 1st–5th floors. One interesting feature to the building, dubbed the "Pool" by the students, is a large cutout structure, (with the interior walls painted blue that gives it its name), located on the second floor which looks into the 1st floor café. This space was originally to be a grand staircase that leads visitors straight from the front door to the office, however, engineering conflicts did not allow for this. Also, two ballrooms, (located in the middle of the 2nd and 3rd floors) were supposed to be staircases that were connected as well, though the same conflicts denied those plans. [9]
The Science Leadership Academy is an understanding-driven, project-based school where the learning is centered around the five core values of inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation and reflection.
Students ask questions about their topic that will allow them to fully understand it. They also inquire about the things they do not know about said topic.
With their resources, students research their topics in depth using credible sources.
Students collaborate with classmates and others to continue their spectrum of learning.
Students convey their thoughts, ideas, and findings through their presentations.
Students reflect on the work, along with successes and failures and see what they can do to improve on future work.