Casco Bay High School, Portland, Maine
This veteran Expeditionary Learning site has seven years’ experience, with special strength in the practice of collective agency. Serving a wide array of Portland’s young people, including many students of poverty and color, it has developed both a vibrant school culture and strong support among educators at every level. A deeper picture of student learning is captured by a standards-based assessment process that measures both content and habits of work. The learning approach, bolstered by personalized use of technology, has resulted in a very high college acceptance rate and strong community support.

Danville High School, Danville, Kentucky
Just entering its second year of focusing on a project-based learning approach, this high school both partners with higher education and enlists the leadership of student advocates. With the majority of students being from low- to moderate-income households, this high school balances a strong commitment to academic rigor with a willingness to take risks. Its innovative approach has a strong ally in the superintendent and has opened the door to broader restructuring in the school district.

Hudson High School of Learning Technologies, New York, New York
This new high school, a member of the city’s iZone (Innovation Zone) community, is committed to student achievement through an intellectually engaging and personalized blended learning model. The school serves youth of diverse ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds, many of whom are also ESL (English as a Second Language) students. Taking a purpose-based approach, teams of youth tackle relevant issues both inside and outside traditional school hours or physical space. Technology plays a central role in enabling learning in a textbook-free environment that also trains youth, in partnership with the MOUSE Squad, to provide the school with hands-on tech support.

Hughes STEM High School, Cincinnati, Ohio
Affiliated with the Ohio STEM Learning Network (OSLN), the school focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Hughes couples rigor in these subjects with a full social-emotional learning component to encourage students to “own” their own learning. Hughes is a non-selective public city school and serves a high-poverty, primarily African-American population. The project-based approach provides youth with a bridge between the STEM coursework (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and the real world through business and community partnerships. Many youth who did not succeed in their previous schools are finding a home and a place to shine at this high-tech, historic high school. The central goal of student agency is shared at every level, from the youth themselves to local and state leaders.

LPS-Hayward, Hayward, California
Part of the Leadership Public Schools network, LPS-Hayward was founded in 2005 with the mission of sending 100 percent of its graduates to college. LPS–Hayward boasts a true diversity of race, ethnicity and income that creates a rich learning environment on campus. In 2011, LPS-Hayward ranked in the top 2% of California high schools serving majority low-income students and was a finalist for the prestigious Intel High School of Distinction Award in Math. The strong partnership of parents, students, teachers and the community is the foundation of the school’s success.

Manchester School of Technology, Manchester, New Hampshire
This multicultural high school offers students from across the school district a compelling array of educational opportunities to earn credits. In a state-of-the art technology learning environment that also houses adult education and New Hampshire’s largest high-risk student education program, youth have an opportunity to gain certification and real experience in a wide choice of fields, from careers in education to automotive technology. Students are able to chart their progress through self-assessment portfolios and can create a competency-based extended learning opportunity to replace a traditional classroom course. As New Hampshire’s largest Career-Tech center, the Manchester School of Technology has led the way in efforts to reduce the state’s dropout rate through strong leadership from the principal and support at the district and state level.