Gibson Ek Innovative High School
2022-2023 School Year
Find Your Passion. Find Your Purpose. Make A Difference.
Welcome
Gibson Ek is a choice high school offering an innovative educational model open to any Issaquah School District student looking for a more personalized, authentic, project-based approach to learning. Students apply in eighth grade for fall admission. The student body of about 200 reflects a wide diversity of goals, with graduates attending selective colleges; training for careers in the trades, technology or the arts; or going straight to work in the community.
Vision
Students make a difference in the world, positively contributing to their communities and living lives of their own design.
Mission
Gibson Ek personalizes learning for each student, guiding them as they develop their passions and purpose through authentic work that impacts the wider world in ways that matter most to them and their communities.
The Gibson Ek Model
As an innovative, real-world learning school, Gibson Ek’s design aims to provide a supportive, flexible and personalized environment that cultivates adults ready for our complex and dynamic world. A core objective is to develop empathetic and self-directed learners highly capable of navigating systems, taking initiative, defining their work in complex contexts, thinking critically, persevering through failures, and collaborating in diverse communities.
Mastery-Based Learning
Gibson Ek’s program is consistent with the standards at all ISD schools but with an alternative approach to learning. Rather than taking conventional classes for letter grades, Gibson Ek students learn through self-directed and guided projects, incorporating core academic content along the way. Certificated staff support and evaluate work through 20 core competencies focused on mastery-based learning. Gibson Ek is authorized by the Washington State Board of Education to graduate students based on mastery of competencies rather than credits. The competencies are aligned with Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and admissions expectations of selective baccalaureate colleges in Washington and nationally.
Communication
- Collaboration and Engagement
- Understanding
- Expression and Representation
- Evaluation and Research
Quantitative Reasoning
- Interpretation
- Representation
- Calculation
- Application and Analysis
Empirical Reasoning
- Design and Conduct Investigation
- Scientific Knowledge and Theories
- Mathematics & Computational Thinking
- Construct and Defend Arguments
Social Reasoning
- Critical Issues and Events
- Geography and Environment
- Institutions, Systems, & Government
- Human Behavior and Expression
Personal Qualities
- Creativity and Innovation
- Productive Mindset
- Better the World
- Health and Wellness
Real-World Emphasis
From hosting professionals as co-teachers to coordinating myriad field trips, Gibson Ek incorporates real-world learning in many ways, most notably through the internship program and capstone project. Two days a week, students intern with regional businesses and organizations to explore career interests, practice soft skills, and develop authentic project work supported by a working professional. Businesses and organizations (and their employees) hosting teen interns in 2022-23 included Village Theater, Mary’s Place, T-Mobile, City of Issaquah, Mahlum and Collins Woerman (architects), Sammamish Animal Sanctuary, Trail Youth Coffee, Lego, Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, The Well & Table restaurant, KidsQuest Children’s Museum, PC Fix, Juniper Capital, Center for Wooden Boats, Infinity Farm, Rainier Flight, Sammamish Police — and many other local artists, tech workers, non-profits, schools and preschools, and small-businesses. Additionally, all students complete a two-year capstone project that culminates in their senior year, in which they conduct in-depth research, identify a real-world need, and then design and implement a response. Gibson Ek follows Stanford University’s “design thinking” model — a common approach to design iteration in the professional world — as a core framework for teacher-guided lab projects, ongoing independent projects, and senior capstone projects. This five-step model encourages students to solve problems by taking the time to empathize with others through research and interviews, define the issue, ideate solutions, prototype and test designs before implementing their response.
Personalized Education
Through small advisories that remain stable through all four years, students are known well by at least one adult. That advisor facilitates the student’s learning, guiding them to develop Learning Plans, coaching them through projects and internships, assessing their work for competencies, and supporting them as they prepare for Exhibition each trimester. The Exhibition is another highly personalized experience, with the student presenting their learning at length to a panel that includes staff, parents, internship mentors, and peers. To do this effectively, they must collect and organize their evidence in many ways, such as online portfolios, videos, photography, projects and products, online files, and binders. They also must practice metacognition as they walk through their learning processes and reflect on their challenges, growth and future goals. The student’s collection of work is a repository of growth and accomplishments that can be a valuable tool for college admissions.
Extracurricular Activities and Special Programs
Leadership, ASB, Robotics, Yearbook, Teen Health Counselor Partnership with Swedish, D&D Club, Art Club, Film Club, Drama Club, Environmental Awareness and Garden Club. Students participate in athletics through their home high schools.
Innovative and Flexible Learning Environment
Gibson Ek’s campus is designed to be a vibrant, innovative, and collaborative school environment. The school is flexible with open work spaces, quiet reading and writing rooms, a gym, outdoor spaces including a garden, and multiple maker spaces and labs for art, 3-D printing and robotics, science, wood- and metalworking, textile design, cooking and music recording.
Model of Excellence
Gibson Ek has been a leading innovator in the worldwide Big Picture Learning network of schools, tapped to lead professional development in the region around its cutting-edge model. The school is a key member of the national Mastery Transcript Consortium, helping to pilot the portfolio-based, narrative transcript portal now commonly used by universities to evaluate applicants from project-based schools worldwide. Gibson Ek has been nominated by both BPL and MTC to The Canopy Project’s national database of “innovative learning environments.” The school is considered a paradigm in Washington state for reimagining learning, highlighted as a model school for new graduation pathway options as well as a new Innovative Learning Pilot program.
Core Values
Committing to a Personal Vision: Students and staff leverage their interests, strengths and talents to set meaningful, challenging and realistic goals, and they pursue these goals through failures and successes.
Engaging in Authentic New Learning: Students and staff pursue learning that is real, personal and lasting, taking risks in a variety of settings while they acquire in-depth knowledge.
Influencing the World: Students and staff are positive influences on their peers, school and community. They develop supportive relationships to solve problems and make contributions to the world.
Learning for Mastery: Students are prepared to thrive in college, career and life. Mastery-based education is deep and enduring learning that can be applied across context and time for meaningful impact. Students gain the knowledge, lifelong skills, and critical dispositions to succeed on a path of their choosing.
