Da Vinci students share new tech approach to education

Da Vinci High School students have always been proud of their school’s innovative approach to education, and this past week they got the chance to show off just how much to education reformers and leaders from across the nation.

On Nov. 2, Da Vinci High School students gave tours of their school for attendees of the Bay Area Innovation in Education Summit, who included some of the nation’s major players in education reform.

The summit is a quarterly conference sponsored by the Hewlett Foundation to foster communication among education leaders and reformers with the goal of positively impacting national education policy and standards.

The November conference was hosted by Big Picture Learning, a Bay Area-based education network, which decided that the best way to inspire a meaningful discussion was to visit nearby alternative schools, including Da Vinci.

The New Tech Network, which includes Da Vinci, employs project-based learning and heavily incorporates technology into the classroom. The curriculum, which meets all the California state standards, focuses on student group work under teacher supervision to complete projects that usually end in presentations to the class and a panel of teachers.