Skip to main content

The anatomy of the IP

Recently I was asked to present at a peer school’s board about our movement away from the AP program over time. More and more schools are looking for ways to offer something that surpasses public school curriculum that does not rely heavily upon multiple-choice tests as a central component of assessment. During the past five years, the most common reasons other independent school professionals either visit our campus or engage us via email is to inquire about Innovation Pursuits at Berwick. It’s typical that the first reaction or question is “oh, it’s like Independent Study.” My response is usually some form of “not exactly.”

One compelling aspect of our IP program is that each year 45 – 60 students have to present their work publicly in late May. The process begins with an application that is reviewed, shaped, tweaked, and supported by Darcy Coffta and then vetted by a committee of faculty and staff. This structure and guidance really matters. Mentors are networked with students as a central part of the experience, and occasionally students have more than one mentor along the journey. What is also unique about Berwick’s program is that it is open to students in grades 4 – 12, which often leads to students completing multiple IPs over their tenure at Berwick – often in the same general subject area. This allows for iteration and revision over time, which is also part of the beauty of a PK-12 school. For me, the hallmark of these IPs is that their titles are often interdisciplinary and do not sit comfortably in an otherwise traditional college preparatory program. Whether it is building an autonomous kayak, creating a 3D printer out of an old copying machine, or writing an opera – schools don’t have courses for these things. On the flip side, IPs allow our students to speak to original intellectual work in their college processes, allowing them to stand out from the pile in important ways.

"Building an Autonomous Kayak"

Surely there is a variance in overall quality for these Innovation Pursuits. Many leave my jaw dropped, while others are likely chocked up more politely to a “learning experience.” Schools struggle to allow for failure and iteration, and this is one program where Berwick fosters this fully. While Upper School students can pursue an IP as an alternative to their afternoon requirements, the vast majority of our students take IPs as something in addition to all that they do at Berwick. An exciting new frontier is that our “pathway programs” in Arts and STEAM in the Upper School both require IP participation as part of the program – truly making the IP program curricular for the first time.


From its inception, the broad umbrella of the Berwick Innovation Center has been organic – purposefully constructed in a way to be adaptive and embracing multiple tentacles. Darcy Coffta’s leadership and follow-through have been essential to making both the Berwick Innovation Center and the IP program a success at Berwick. What is exciting to see now is the ways in which the IP program has seeped into the culture of our school, and I would include faculty and students in that statement. And as a father of a fifth grader who will tackle her second IP this year, I have circled May 14 on my calendar as a must see event on this campus – I hope that you will do so as well.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Piercing the Bubble

This week we were so fortunate to have former NH Senator Kelly Ayotte address grades 7 – 11 in our theater about Civil Discourse in a time of Political Polarization. Senator Ayotte spoke to the need to take the high road in tough conversations and put an incredible primacy on building relationships with people who hold different opinions. She was able to speak to some of her own successes in working across the aisle to develop legislation to address the opioid crisis in New Hampshire as one powerful example of how this can be possible. Additionally, Senator Ayotte offered a strong reminder to our students of the need for more women in positions of leadership within our government, citing that she had only been the 53rd woman to serve in the US senate during her tenure. With a down-to-earth style and but an appropriately impassioned call to action, she challenged our students to become the leaders that they could be. Her call to action and example of service were powerful reminder...
Post a Comment
Read more

The wonders of nature at Berwick

I started my day in the Admin meeting on Thursday hearing about the newest iteration of Earth Day this year. Thanks to senior Quinn Santos and his Innovation Pursuit, we learned about the ways in which Earth Day will be a bit more hands on and active than it has in the past. Quinn has been a passionate environmentalist on campus and this year his IP project has focused on building out our Earth Day programming. As Head of School, it is pretty compelling to see one student mobilize an entire PK-12 school into action to clean up beaches and come to know our local wildlife. While we can sometimes worry about the amount of disruption and special schedules that these events create, it’s amazing that we have kids who care as much as Quinn does. His passion is authentic, and it goes well beyond any kind of grade motivation. He is off to Unity College next year to take this passion to the next level. I finished my day by enjoying the miracle that Lower School parents know as the Lower S...
Post a Comment
Read more

Arts Underground

One of Berwick’s great strengths is its arts culture, and I have always felt that there is both a public and private face of this culture. The public face includes our amazing concerts, our ambitious productions, and the various art shows we produce throughout the year. The private face tends to include things like private lessons, coffeehouses, assembly performances, murals painted on walls, and unexpected artistic expressions that emerge on campus throughout the year. One of the great traditions I will miss at Berwick will be the annual recital week in April. So many of our students hone their craft on private music lessons throughout the year in the hopes of having a public performance at this time. Simultaneously, we have a week of performances in the theater and in Chip Harding’s coffeehouse lair – the space he likes to refer to as his “smoldering ruins,” referring to the carnage left there after every Middle School electric guitar class. This year, for my second and final time, I...
Post a Comment
Read more