All Research Innovation in Education Student voices From the classroom Students at work @CourtneyofAcera
Join us for Acera’s 2nd Annual Trivia Night!
Join us on Thursday, February 6, 2020 from 6:30-9:30 pm for Acera’s 2nd Annual Trivia Night to benefit the Reed Hollett Enrichment Scholarship Fund! Acera’s 2nd Annual Trivia Night for adults only (pizza, beer and wine will be… Read More
Category: Acera News, AceraBlogPost, Blog | January 21, 2020 | kerry
Registration for Acera’s 2020 Summer Camp is open!
Unleash your curiosity…follow your passion…invent your future. Summer 2020 camps are here! Acera is offering more than 75 half day and full day camps for kids, including: Fun and engaging classes for 4-7 year olds, like Carnival Design,… Read More
Category: Acera News, Blog, Student Voices | January 10, 2020 | kerry
Scenes from Acera School’s Museum Walk
Creativity was on display at Acera’s annual December Museum Walk! Students displayed the computer games, living wall, robotics, bioplastic sculptures, woodshop constructions, artistic mobiles and comedy skills developed during Creativity Mornings this fall. Well done, students – we’re… Read More
Category: Acera News, AceraBlogPost, from the classroom, Students at work | December 19, 2019 | kerry
Acera’s all-school day of service
On Thursday, Dec. 5, faculty and staff came together with students in the spirit of the holidays to give back to our local community. The day of service aligns with Acera’s year-long theme of Human Needs. Throughout the… Read More
Category: Acera News, Blog, from the classroom, Students at work | December 9, 2019 | kerry
Math students reinvent Acera’s Annual Fund tracker
When students in Ms. Nic’s math class studied the Acera Annual Fund tracking poster in the school’s lobby, they weren’t satisfied with its accuracy and scale. The kids came up with a better one, using their math skills… Read More
Category: AceraBlogPost, Blog, from the classroom | November 25, 2019 | kerry
AceraEI offers free workshops for public school science teachers
Acera’s Education Innovation Initiative (AceraEI) is pleased to announce its 2019-2020 Life Sciences Change Agent Teacher (LSCAT) Workshop series! Gene Editing with CRISPR: February 7 & March 6, 2020 June 24 & 26, 2020 The Human Microbiome:… Read More
Category: Acera News, AceraBlogPost, Innovation in Education | November 14, 2019 | kerry
Measuring what matters at school
By Courtney Dickinson What indicates a school’s success? Is it simply a standardized test score, like MCAS? It isn’t. The decades-long standardized testing movement has failed to close the equity gap in education, which was its entire intent…. Read More
Category: @CourtneyofAcera, AceraBlogPost, Blog, Innovation in Education | November 12, 2019 | kerry
Scientific thinking and creative problem solving in action
The Pyne Arts first grader wasn’t satisfied with the results of her first experiment. “I added a big water and a big glue the first time, and I did three small Borax,” she noted, having written her first… Read More
Category: AceraBlogPost, Blog, Innovation in Education | November 7, 2019 | kerry
Inside, Outside: Linking in-class content to real world issues and innovations
By Courtney Dickinson @CourtneyofAcera Jake, age 13, sits and experiments with circuitry and Arduino, figuring out how to connect and code in his “Robotic Bling” hands-on elective class. The 10-week course occurs once a week for 2 hours,… Read More
Category: @CourtneyofAcera, Blog, from the classroom, Innovation in Education | November 1, 2019 | kerry
Scenes from the 2019 Innovator Symposium
On Thursday, October 24, Acera School buzzed with activity. In the Commons, parents and kids interacted with computers, explored soft robotics, and watched self-driving cars in action. In the Innovation Hub, they dissected flowers, took on design challenges,… Read More
Category: Acera News, AceraBlogPost, Innovation in Education | October 31, 2019 | kerry
At Acera, we believe a school’s success can be measured far beyond its standardized test scores. How happy are its students? Do they feel a sense of purpose at school? Are they developing a capacity for perspective taking and problem solving? Are teachers using evidence-based approaches to pedagogy? Acera’s Education Innovation team is working to change how we measure education to include students’ core capacities, faculty’s use of evidence-based practices, a positive school culture, and standards and achievement.
Tech Hub enables students to emerge as community-minded technologists able to solve problems to benefit the whole school. More a philosophy than a place, Tech Hub can start as simply a cart in a cafeteria with one student fired up to be a knowledgable, technically skillful community member. Concurrently developing emotional intelligence skills and a wide array of technological abilities, Tech Hub members model and spread an attitude of fearlessness at using STEM tools to solve real problems.
Small children can understand big ideas, and computer science is no exception. Acera’s hands-on “Computers and Me” curriculum introduces early elementary students to computer science concepts, and is one example of many creative ways computational thinking and technical fluency can be developed throughout K-12 education, starting at age 5. Pilot-tested and ready to translate for adoption by public schools, these computer science learning approaches help students become facile and fearless.
What if math classes are organized based on what each student is ready to learn, rather than by age? This f
How can educators unleash the initiative and creativity inherent in all children? 