American high schools are structured around time. They assume students learn at the same pace and in the same way. They dictate that teachers convey their knowledge and expertise in neat and standardized blocks of time. They also tend to convey that students who master the assigned material in a shorter period of time are gifted and those who take longer are learning disabled. Current educational research, as well as common sense, tells us that this is just not true.
All children can learn but being individuals, they do so at their own pace and in their own manner.
Common sense also tells us that to prosper in life after high school, students must possess strong reading, writing, and computational skills and be good problem solvers. Creating this new school requires that we mentally challenge many long-held beliefs about education. We must recognize that the times and society we live in have changed. Schools too must change and adapt in order that our youth prosper in the 21 st Century. A lengthened academic day and a longer school year will allow performance-based learning through the more flexible use of time.