High School Hasn’t Changed in 100 Years. That’s a Problem.

This message is in partnership with XQ Institute.

The first American public high school opened its doors 200 years ago. It was based upon the belief that high school, if free and available to all, would develop graduates who would be able to contribute to culture, society and the economy.

About 100 years after its inception, the system was overhauled to meet the demands of an industrialized, factory-based society. And it has stayed frozen in time ever since.

Radical and meaningful change is long overdue. We need to rethink the beliefs and the models upon which we’ve built these schools. We need to plan for a future where ideas are currency, where knowledge is highly valued.

XQ is a movement to challenge these old definitions of school, to illuminate how stagnant our system is, and most importantly, to create new thinking against entirely new models. It is a movement with one end goal: to create great interest on the part of all Americans to redefine the ways we prepare our students for the future.

XQ The Super School Project is an open call to reimagine — and then design — the next American high school. In towns and cities far and wide, teams will unite to rethink and build schools that deeply prepare our students for the rigorous challenges of college, jobs, and life in a rapidly changing global economy.

Over the next few months, we will accept proposals, and then a year from now, we will give the best of them the expert support and resources needed to become Super Schools.

Let’s rethink high school together.