Innovative Schools

Change Education. 

Learn Together. 

Support Each Other. 

We Invite You To Join Us.

One of the biggest obstacles to opening a new school, whether it is a school-with-in a school, or a stand-alone school, is establishing an effective support network. The Alliance of Model Schools is a networking resource started by and for communities and schools that are exploring, planning, or implementing one of the deeper learning school designs supported by Innovative Schools and their national school design partners.

The Alliance membership provides resources and a new system of collaborative, peer-to-peer accountability and networked professional development opportunities across Delaware. 

The Alliance Vision

The Alliance of Model Schools is pioneering partnerships committed to fostering forward-thinking innovations in the design and delivery of education across Delaware. We believe that our bold vision, shared goals and innovative strategies will empower us to close persistent achievement gaps, promote greater educational equity and opportunity for all students, and lead educators into a new era. By redesigning public schools, we envision the knowledge, skills and habits of mind that were once the possession of a few becoming the universal standard for all. Our students will not only be proficient in the traditional academic disciplines, but they will be creative thinkers, adaptable workers, and informed citizens equipped to face the diverse challenges of the 21^st century.

We see traditional public schools evolving into versatile community learning centers that prioritize individual learning needs, provide engaging educational opportunities both inside and outside the classroom, and offer a variety of pathways to graduation. As the Alliance of Model Schools forges ambitious, forward-thinking partnerships across Delaware, educational organizations, postsecondary institutions and schools to leverage resources and expertise in pursuit of our common mission, we foresee a fundamental cultural shift taking hold in the hearts and minds of educators, policy makers, parents and citizens as the traditional concept of school is redefined to mirror the lives, interests, and leaning needs of today’s students.

The Benefits of Collaboration

Working with all education stakeholders, we can implement new, more focused, and better utilized school models that can advance and sustain educational improvement and better prepare our students for their future. The Alliance will support deep, systematic improvement work while guiding and encouraging peer collaboration to accelerate and strengthen the process. Instead of asking schools to emulate others, the network will engage schools in an ongoing exchange of professional learning, sharing, reflection, and growth. While every school in the Alliance will make the same commitment to improve, Innovative Schools recognizes and embraces the fact that schools progress in different ways and at different rates.

Membership Benefits Include

The decision to join the Alliance of Model Schools is made entirely by participating schools, and is the result of thoughtful consideration. Membership benefits include continued access to:

Alliance Learning Walks

• Two walk-throughs each year at a fellow Alliance member's building
• Collaborative professional partnerships

Strategic Business Partnerships

• A database of business partners interested in supporting schools in various ways including Project Based Learning Projects, Advisories and Internships and more.

Fall/Spring Alliance Meeting

• Share best practice strategies and discuss challenges and opportunities
• Keynote speaker highlighting innovative school practices

Instructional Support

• Regularly scheduled professional dialogue and support sessions
• Access to a professional learning community that harnesses the talents, expertise and resources of schools and educators in Delaware.

Teacher/Leader Recruitment

• Career fair to access school leaders and teachers
• Access to pipeline of teachers and leaders recruited and trained through the Delaware Leadership Project and Delaware Talent Management

Community Spotlight

• Recognition in Innovative Schools’ monthly newsletter and press releases, highlighting replication
• Organized tours of your school for others interested your school model
• Presence at Best Practice Conference