All Posts

What families and school leaders need to understand about trust A parent once shared something with me that I have never forgotten. The details belonged to a particular family, but the underlying theme was one I had encountered many times before. At some point, he realized that some of his own fears had begun to transfer onto his child. Not because he was inattentive, unloving, or careless, but precisely because he cared so deeply. Like many parents, he wanted to protect his

What the first weeks of ISLA taught me about school design In 2015, ISLA Academy was not yet the school people know today. We had one class of about twelve students, ranging in age from seven to sixteen. Much of the day happened on the patio of our Cabarete campus. There was no mature operating model, no refined six-week unit cycle, no formal project planning tools, no clearly defined core skills, and none of the systems that now allow the school to function across multiple c

Why student-centered schools need more than a packaged curriculum A family once visited our school and saw what every school founder hopes a family will see. Students were laughing at recess. Small reading and math groups were focused and productive. Teachers knew the students in front of them. The energy felt calm, alive, and real. By the end of the visit, the family was ready to enroll. Then they called home to share the good news, and someone asked the question that almost