Flex Public Charter Schools

I’m always interested in innovative schools so I visited San Francisco Flex Academy last week with two friends. This is a free (well, your taxes pay for it, like public school) charter school for 9-12 graders. Two more are opening soon – one in Silicon Valley and one in the Mt. Diablo district.

The way these schools work:

They operate on a traditional school year calendar, with traditional school hours and holidays. They follow the California curriculum standards. The building isn’t your typical school structure. The one in San Francisco looked like a converted hotel with a comfortable lobby, student lounge with fireplace, library (with very few books since the school uses mostly virtual tools), cafeteria, a board room, and one big open room filled with individual study carrels. On the periphery of the big room were small break out rooms where a teacher and one to ten students could convene.

All students come to school, grab their laptop (provided by the school), go to their carrel and begin working. They work in five 70-minute sessions with ten-minute breaks and a lunch break. They check in on line to set up their work plan for the day. If they feel like starting with math, they start with math. If they work better on English or science first thing in the morning, that’s where they start.

They follow the K-12 online, interactive curriculum.

When they need help, they raise their hand and an academic coach (who is constantly walking the room) helps them. Teachers monitor their progress on line and call on students individually or in groups to help them in areas that need help. Students may also work in small groups.

The focus seems to be on mastery instead of on grades, although grades are given. When a student masters a concept, she moves ahead to the next level. Tests are given and progress is constantly monitored by a teacher.

Homework? It seems minimal. The students may continue to work at home on something they are doing at school, but the goal is to have them working at school and meeting their goals so that they do not need to bring it home. Because it’s virtual, some students may finish up some homework on the bus on the way to school on their smart phone, for example.

This seems to work well for any type of student. The slower learner works at a slower pace and the quicker learner works faster. Every student must meet goals, but goals are individual and the work they do toward meeting those goals appears to be non competitive. Every student must master subjects, but at their own pace.

What about extracurriculars? Well, they are minimal or students can form their own clubs and create any extra curricular activities they choose. They could choose to start a soccer team, for example, or a chess club, or a dance. It’s up to the students.

Or, perhaps they don’t want any extra curriculars after school, so then they are free to come home after school (to little or no homework) and do what they want with the rest of their day - sports, music, rest, art, work, volunteer, etc.

Sound interesting?

If you are interested in learning more about the Mt. Diablo Flex school (slated to open next fall in Pleasant Hill or Walnut Creek) you can go to this informational meeting:

Mt. Diablo Flex Academy
Info Session

Tuesday, March 1


7:00 PM 


Walnut Creek Public Library


1644 North Broadway


Walnut Creek, CA 94596

Or, I suggest a visit to the SF Flex Academy with your son or daughter to get a feeling for this type of innovative school and whether it would be a good fit for your student. I was impressed.

Any thoughts?

Fires in the Mind

Fires in the Mind: What Kids Can Tell Us About Motivation and Mastery by Kathleen Cushman

For teachers…

I recommend this book because it shows myriad examples from students on what motivates them. For example, here’s a student talking about what makes a teacher good:

“A lot of teachers here treat their class as more of a conversation, rather than a lecture, and I think that really helps to create dialogue. There’s not someone standing up and telling you a right or wrong answer.” – Kristian

Teachers can also check out the website link for ongoing ideas about how to apply these concepts into their classrooms.

For Parents…

If you are a parent, perhaps you could buy a copy of this book for a teacher as a holiday or end of year gift? And, if you are a parent you can check out the website link of this book geared toward parents.

Some great suggestions for parents from this link:

1. Love your children as an end, not a means.

2. View life as resistance training.

3. Stop looking at the scoreboard at the game and start paying attention to practice field.

4. Form in your children an ethical conscience and a conscience of craft.

5. Develop the whole person

Concentrate on seven life skills:

• Communication


• Courtesy


• Taking other perspectives


• Self-control


• Organization


• Time management


• Self-care

I hope Fires in the Mind will help bring teachers and parents together. As a parent I have often found the dialogue between a teacher and parent to be one way, with a teacher telling a parent something (usually rehearsed) instead of really listening to a parent’s concerns. Parents and teachers have to learn how to listen to each other. That’s what we try to teach our children and students, so why not model that as adults?