Educelerate XVIII: New School Models in K-12 Education

Live link is here!

https://plus.google.com/events/ct50s5q3eb5ftq2hlh0hjdav3t0

Join Educelerate at the new Bennett Day School TinkerLab for a panel discussion on New Models in K-12 Education, with experts in Blended and Flipped Learning, Maker and Place-based Education, and Charters and Independent Schools. And in addition to all the discussion, we will make sure to leave time for networking, beverages and glue guns in the TinkerLab (http://www.bennettdayschool.org/page.cfm?p=581) afterward.

A live stream will be available via the EdReach Google HOA (https://plus.google.com/b/112590020369038537854/events/chfl5jbn7lmebs351tsedfolfvk).

Our esteemed panelists will include:

• Cameron Smith: Cameron is the co-founder and CEO of Bennett Day School, which he was inspired to create after the birth of his son in 2010 (who will be a member of their first JK class this year). As a new parent, he recognized that there are very few options for progressive independent schooling in Chicago. Cameron previously worked in private equity and is a licensed attorney in Illinois. He serves on the Board of the Namaste Charter School where he is Chair of the Investment Committee and is a member of the Education Law Committee of the Chicago Bar Association.

• Anne Gillespie: Anne is the Founding Principal of the Academy for Global Citizenship. After working as a teacher in the Chicago Public Schools and earning her Masters of Curriculum and Instruction from National-Louis University, Anne co-founded the Academy for Global Citizenship, a Chicago Public Charter School located on the underserved Southwest side of Chicago. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Urban Education Leadership from the University of Illinois.

• Nick Montgomery: Nick is the Chief Research Officer of TeacherMatch and previously was the founder and CEO of UChicago Impact (https://uchicagoimpact.org/), an organization supporting schools in the use of research-based, practice-proven tools across 20 states.

• David Napier: kindly filling in for Mac Gamse, founder and CEO of Meritas Schools, David is the SVP of Regional Operations, providing strategic and operational leadership for its four schools in the Western US. Previously, David worked for the education private equity fund Sterling Partners and in business development for Kaplan.

• Lucy Gray: we are very luck to have Lucy, a leading K-12 education consultant (http://lucygrayconsulting.com/)s and founder of the Global Education Conference (http://www.globaleducationconference.com/), moderating the panel.

A special thank you to our hosts at Bennett Day School (http://www.bennettdayschool.org/), a new kind of independent day school for prekindergarten through eighth grade in the heart of Chicago. Founded with progressive roots, Bennett Day is seeking to capture the energy that infuses our diverse and vibrant city. Their school is based upon the belief that children of all ages learn through questioning, exploring and discovering.

And a second thanks to Meritas Schools for sponsoring our refreshments. Meritas is an international family of college-preparatory schools spanning the US, Switzerland and China. Each Meritas sister school teaches students to think critically, ask thoughtful questions, use high-order reasoning and solve problems creatively.

The event was organized by Christopher Nyren, the founder of Educelerate and education industry advisory and seed investment firm Educated Ventures.