Our School
Reimagining High School
Gibson Ek offers a nationally recognized, innovative model as a choice option in the Issaquah School District. Any eighth- or ninth-grader living within district boundaries may apply for fall enrollment.
We prepare students to take on real-world problems and achieve academic excellence through multi-disciplinary projects framed by Stanford’s design thinking process. Guided by dynamic teachers and internship mentors, our 200 students in grades 9-12 transform their curiosities into authentic impact as they build the durable skills crucial for success in college, career and the challenges of tomorrow.
Real-World Learning based on Mastery
Rather than taking conventional classes for letter grades, Gibson Ek students learn through authentic projects, community internships, and competency-based assessment rather than courses or grades. Certificated staff support and evaluate work through a set of core competencies focused on mastery-based learning. Two days a week, students intern with regional businesses and organizations to explore career interests and develop authentic project work with a working professional.
Design Thinking for Community
Our complex and dynamic world needs people who can take initiative, think critically, persevere through failures, and collaborate in diverse communities. For this reason, we use Stanford University’s “design thinking” model – centered on empathy and prototyping – as a framework for student projects. With a strong focus on growth mindset, we believe learning happens in community – both within our school walls and through deep engagement with the broader community around us.
Modeling Excellence
We are …
- a leading innovator in the worldwide Big Picture Learning network of schools, tapped to lead professional development in our region around our future-forward model.
- 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
- nominated by both BPL and MTC to The Canopy Project’s national database of “innovative learning environments”
- a paradigm in Washington state for reimagining learning, highlighted as a model school for new graduation pathway options as well as the state’s mastery-based learning focus.
GIBSON EK: Explore. Design. Achieve.
Our Vision
Students make a difference in our world, positively contributing to their communities and living lives of their own design.
Our Mission
We personalize learning for each student, guiding them as they engage in authentic project work in order to find and develop their passions and purpose to make a difference in the world.
Our Core Values
Commitment 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.
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.
Application and Influence in 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.
Mastery-Based Learning: Students are prepared to thrive in college, career and life. Mastery learning is deep and enduring learning that can be applied across context and time for meaningful impact. Students gain the enduring knowledge, lifelong skills, and critical dispositions to succeed on a path of their choosing.
Statement of Community
Students and staff of Gibson Ek believe the best learning happens in an environment that values
Inclusion: We support each other through kindness and understanding, creating an inclusive environment that respects individual identities and differences.
Perseverance: We find inspiration to pursue our interests and lead our own learning by staying focused, working hard, and learning from our failures and challenges.
Collaboration: We collaborate and engage in conversations by listening to each other, suspending judgment, and encouraging others to share their ideas. We ask for help when needed and offer to help others.
Respect: We value others’ work and take care of all of our materials, tools, and equipment. We clean up and reset the spaces when we’re done.
Community: We create an environment that values and celebrates personalized learning by respecting the needs of those around us.
Commitment to Equity
Gibson Ek staff acknowledge systemic racism exists and are committed to ending these practices as we examine our own structures, institutions and practices. We are committed to doing all we can to support students who experience racism either overtly or implicitly. This year we commit to forming a student and staff equity team that is committed to learning better, teaching better, loving better and fighting better.
Big Picture Learning
We are not only members of the Gibson Ek High School community, but GEHS is part of the Big Picture Learning network of schools.
BPL was established in 1995 with the sole mission of putting students directly at the center of their own learning. Today there are over 65 Big Picture network schools in the United States, and many more schools around the world in places such as Australia, the Netherlands, Italy and Canada. While the design of each network school uniquely fits its own students, the rationale for student-centered learning is consistent: when you learn about what you’re interested in, you learn more deeply; when you connect with experts and do work in the real world, you become better prepared for life after school; when you’re deeply known by multiple adults, you have better outcomes.
To this end, Big Picture network schools, including Gibson Ek, are committed to achieving these purposes through an advisory model; Leaving to Learn program; and inquiry-based, project-based learning.
Sign Up for the Weekly Bulletin
Our Model
- Flipping the Script
- Competencies
- Schedule
- Learning on Campus
- Leaving to Learn
- Other Academics
- Tracking Learning
Flipping the Script
Traditional Model: Teacher-Led, Point-Based Learning
- The teacher determines how and what students learn, based on state standards.
- The teacher designs lessons, homework, and tests to measure learning.
- The teacher assigns points and letter grades to indicate degree of learning.
Gibson Ek’s Model: Student-Led, Competency-Based Learning
- Students determine how and what to learn based on identified interests and goals, as well as rigorous competency benchmarks.
- Students create challenging, integrated and authentic projects for learning within mentor-guided internships and teacher-supported labs and studio time.
- Teachers coach students along the way, then assess learning according to our competencies, aligned to state standards.
- Students present evidence of learning at a Foundational or Mastery level.
The Gibson Ek Learning Model
We start with the student...
Learning Plan The student writes a Learning Plan that includes a personal vision and challenging learning goals aimed toward this vision. The Learning Plan, evolving over 4 years, is the cornerstone of everything a student creates, guiding them as they choose independent or collaborative projects, labs, internships & more.
Design & Inquiry Labs
Independent & Collaborative Projects
Internships & Internship Projects
The teacher takes and advisory role, asking...
Are you using Design Thinking in projects? Stanford University’s Design Thinking Process is our project framework, prompting students to think beyond their personal preferences to dig into the needs of real-world users. It also requires them to accept and process feedback as they share prototypes with advisors, peers, & professionals.
Where are opportunities to expand your learning? As students work on projects, teachers can help them see how they are becoming more competent in core subject areas – or how they might push themselves even more. Their competencies should grow and deepen over time.
Are you on track & moving forward? Students inexperienced in managing projects may need a teacher’s help to stay on track. They may worry about what to do next or fear imperfection. We reassure students that rough patches are part of the iteration process, and we assess the entire process, not just the final product.
The Student presents their learning for evaluation, through...
Public Exhibitions Students share the strongest evidence of their growth – both successes and setbacks – at a public exhibition each quarter. Families, mentors, peers and staff offer constructive feedback.
Learning Portfolios Students collect evidence of learning in their portfolios and share with their advisors for evaluation. Advisors assign competencies – which are aligned to state standards – rather than points and letter grades.
[NOTE: Project work rarely covers every learning standard, so students round out their learning with online courses (such as math) or Inquiry Labs for more theoretical explorations.]
Competencies
Competencies
Rather than earning grades and credits, students show learning by demonstrating their mastery of competencies. This means a student’s path to mastery will be personal, unique, varied and challenging.
As defined by the Aurora Institute, a Competency-based education is a system in which:
- Students are empowered daily to make important decisions about their learning experiences, how they will create and apply knowledge, and how they will demonstrate their learning.
- Assessment is a meaningful, positive, and empowering learning experience for students that yields timely, relevant, and actionable evidence.
- Students receive timely, differentiated support based on their individual learning needs.
- Students progress based on evidence of mastery, not seat time.
- Students learn actively using different pathways and varied pacing.
- Strategies to ensure equity for all students are embedded in the culture, structure, and pedagogy of schools and education systems.
- Rigorous, common expectations for learning (knowledge, skills, and dispositions) are explicit, transparent, measurable, and transferable.
Gibson Ek is authorized by the Washington State Board of Education (SBE) to graduate students based on mastery of competencies rather than credits, and the competencies are aligned with Common Core State Standards and admissions expectations of selective baccalaureate colleges in Washington state and nationally. The competencies are clustered within five interdisciplinary Learning Goals representing the skills, core knowledge, and attributes of effective learners prepared for college and career.
Requirements
Competency-based learning is personalized, allowing students to receive just the right amount of challenge and support where needed. Competency-based learning also rewards and celebrates growth over time. Therefore, Gibson Ek students show growth throughout their 4 years from being an emerging and discovering learner in their 101 and 201 years to being an engaged and empowered learner in their 301 and 401 years. Students share evidence of learning to demonstrate competency attainment along the following timeline:
|
101 students |
meet 10 of the 20 competencies at a Foundational or Advanced level |
| 201 students | meet the remaining 10 competencies for a total of 20 competencies |
| 301 students | meet 8 competencies at the Foundational or Advanced Level, but with greater depth, rigor and community connection |
| 401 students | meet a different 8 competencies, also with greater depth, rigor and community connection |
EMPOWERED
Students build upon their engaged skills and knowledge, and they use their learning to authentically and positively impact the community
ENGAGED
Students build upon their skill and knowledge explorations by developing ownership in their learning to pursue greater challenges and deeper understandings
EXPLORING
Students build upon their emerging skills and knowledge by developing the complexity of their understandings, the quality of their skills, and the investment in their visions
EMERGING
Students share their learning when they begin their journey at Gibson Ek, try something for the first time, or repeat a skill to gain more practice
Foundational and Advanced Level Work
Students can demonstrate mastery of competencies at a foundational or advanced level. A student demonstrates advanced application of competencies through work that has an impact outside of school and exhibits at least two of the following:
- leadership that inspires others toward social responsibility
- consistent and ongoing mentorship from a professional in a relevant field
- deep and complex knowledge of a subject or skill set
- professional-level performance; significant contribution to a community outside of school
- critical application of Design Thinking, including multiple iterations and revisions based on a range of feedback
Personal Qualities: Graduates possess the habits of mind to achieve their goals for the future. They are curious and express a joy for learning. They feel a sense of responsibility to make a contribution in their local communities and in the wider world.
Communication: Graduates are confident, respectful communicators. They initiate conversations and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with peers and adults to build understanding of concepts and ideas and complete authentic tasks and projects.
Empirical Reasoning: Graduates observe phenomena, generate their own questions, design and conduct investigation, and construct and defend arguments as contributing members of society.
Quantitative Reasoning: Graduates make sense of quantitative phenomena by constructing viable arguments, justifying their thinking, and generalizing understandings to solve real-world problems.
Social Reasoning: Graduates understand diverse perspectives and engage with critical issues of the past and present to examine their impact on society. They use their understanding of local, state, and world policies to become active participants in local, national, and global communities.
Personal Qualities
PQ
Personal Qualities
How do I contribute to my growth and the growth of my community?
Better the World
How do I contribute to and improve my community?
Leadership
Empathy
Sense of Responsibility for the Future
Community Engagement
Creativity & Imagination
How do I develop and use my creative and imaginative skills?
Inventive Thinking
Investigation
Passions, Interests & Strengths
Products & Performances
Productive Mindset
How do I persist to meet responsibilities?
Goal Setting & Lifelong Learning
Perseverance
Honesty & Integrity
Reflective Learning
Health & Wellness
How do I pursue and maintain a positive, balanced life?
Active Life
Healthy Choices
Better the World
How do I contribute to and improve my community?
Creativity & Imagination
How do I develop and use my creative and imaginative skills?
Productive Mindset
How do I persist to meet responsibilities?
Health & Wellness
How do I pursue and maintain a positive, balanced life?
Guiding Questions
- How do I demonstrate leadership in all areas of my life?
- How do I demonstrate empathy for a diverse world?
- How do I demonstrate a sense of responsibility for the future?
- How do I engage in my school and local community in a meaningful and authentic way?
- How do I use inventive, creative thinking to solve problems in various contexts?
- How do I investigate the world deeply through interdisciplinary study?
- How do I discover my strengths and learn by pursuing passions, interests and talents?
- How do I create original, well-crafted, high quality products and performances?
- How do I set and pursue short and long term goals that align with my vision?
- How do I embrace and persevere through academic and personal challenges?
- How do I demonstrate consistent honesty and integrity?
- How do I consistently reflect on my experiences and make improvements?
- How do I develop the knowledge and skills necessary to maintain an active life?
- How do I develop the knowledge and skills to make healthy choices related to mental, spiritual, financial, community, emotional and/or physical wellness?
Collection of Evidence Might Include
- Ethical decision making, social responsibility and advocacy
- Taking risks and experiencing failure in order to succeed
- Expanding worldview through meaningful and authentic experiences
- Working with diverse groups of people for sustained periods of time
- Empathizing with those holding different beliefs or philosophies
- Showing appreciation for contributions of past generations
- Engaging in meaningful and sustained community service
- Pursuing community service that emerges from passions and interests
- Using flexible thinking, adapting own perspective to solve problems
- Asking thoughtful questions and seeking answers
- Identifying, gathering, evaluating and considering multiple perspectives to make informed decisions
- Learning new things
- Learning from challenges, overcoming fears
- Thinking realistically and self motivating to achieve goals
- Using time and task management to achieve goals
- Learning and growing from failures
- Seeking help in solving problems and making decisions
- Demonstrating confidence, strength of character, determination and independence
- Treating others with respect and kindness
- Striving to become a better person
- Reflecting on positives and negatives of an experience and growing from it
- Accepting and applying feedback and critiques
- Developing movement, flexibility, strength and/or nutrition skills or knowledge
- Demonstrating ability to make informed choices about personal wellness
- Demonstrating ability to balance school, extracurricular activities, leisure, friends and family.
- Managing stress by using strategies for well being
Communication
CO
Communication
How do I take in and express a variety of ideas?
Collaboration
How do I work with others to identify and address challenges?
Discussions
Communication Strategies
Diverse Perspectives
Critical Conversations
Understanding
How do I deeply understand challenging ideas and information?
Read for Understanding
Text Analysis
Multiple Source Synthesis
Expression
How do I persist to meet responsibilities?
Goal Setting & Lifelong Learning
Perseverance
Honesty & Integrity
Reflective Learning
Evaluation & Research
How do I find and apply valid, reliable information?
Source Evaluation & Bias
Citation
Others' Research
Expert Review
Collaboration
How do I work with others to identify and address challenges?
Understanding
How do I deeply understand challenging ideas and information?
Expression
How do I persist to meet responsibilities?
Evaluation & Research
How do I find and apply valid, reliable information?
Guiding Questions
- How have I initiated and participated in rich collaborative discussions?
- How do I demonstrate a variety of communication strategies?
- How do I expand my ideas and understanding based on the diverse perspectives of others?
- How do I participate in critical conversations to solve problems?
- How do I read a broad range of challenging texts over a wide range of topics?
- How do I understand and analyze a wide range of texts?
- How do I synthesize multiple sources to form an understanding of what I’m investigating?
- How do I produce a range of effective creative, written and verbal expressions for a variety of purposes?
- How do I skillfully use language to clearly communicate my meaning?
- How do I adapt my language and expression
for a variety of purposes
and audiences?
- How do I evaluate the credibility of sources? How do I identify bias?
- How do I cite sources with accepted methods?
- How do I avoid plagiarizing others’ works?
- How do I ask for feedback from experts in the appropriate field and revise my work based on that feedback?
Collection of Evidence Might Include
- Participation in discussions with peers and community members
- Contributing accurate and relevant information to conversations
- Participation in small and large group discussions
- Applying appropriate strategies of facilitation, collaboration, public speaking and nonverbal behavior
- Actively listening and asking questions
- Empathizing with others
- Seeking and synthesizing diverse ideas
- Working with others to solve problems
- Reading, comprehending, analyzing and synthesizing a range of novels, short stories, articles, academic papers, websites, plays, videos, films, podcasts, instruction and other informational sources
- Increasing reading and information gathering challenges over time
- Producing a range of increasingly skilled and complex expression
- Reflecting on effectiveness of one’s expression
- Seeking feedback and revising based on this feedback
- Applying appropriate grammar, word choice, tone and fluency for the context and purpose
- Increasing written, verbal and creative expression challenges
over time
- Using appropriate MLA, APA or other relevant rules for in-text citations, works cited pages and bibliographies
- Using a range of credible and relevant sources, accessing academic, technical or other sources as needed
- Accessing people relevant to the topic to build understanding and receive feedback
- Applying note-taking and organization skills to avoid plagiarism
Empirical Reasoning
ER
Empirical Reasoning
How do I prove it? How do I reason?
Empirical Investigation
How do I design and conduct an investigation?
Scientific Questioning
Empirical Investigations
Independent & Dependent Variables
Evidence Collection
Scientific Knowledge & Theories
How do I deeply understand ideas?
Scientific Concepts
Predictions
Scientific Evidence & Models
Constraints & Specifications
Empirical Modeling
How do I create representations of complex ideas and systems?
Modeling
Tools & Technology
Limits & Precision of Models
Empirical Arguments
How do I create a well-reasoned argument?
Data to Support a Claim
Patterns of Evidence
Correlation & Causation
Weaknesses in an Argument
Empirical Investigation
How do I design and conduct an investigation?
Scientific Knowledge & Theories
How do I deeply understand ideas?
Empirical Modeling
How do I create representations of complex ideas and systems?
Empirical Arguments
How do I create a well-reasoned argument?
Guiding Questions
- How do I pose a scientific question that can be tested?
- How do I design an empirical investigation to collect data?
- How do I clearly define and analyze independent and dependent variables and experimental controls?
- How do I collect empirical evidence to construct and refine explanations or arguments?
- How do I explain complex scientific concepts, theories or controversies?
- How do I revise predictions or explanations based on new evidence and information?
- How do I use scientific evidence and models to support or refute explanations?
- How do I question the constraints and specifications of possible solutions?
- How do I create accurate two- and three dimensional models of organisms, concepts or systems?
- How do I use tools and technology to understand, investigate, create or synthesize ideas, concepts or systems?
- How do I recognize and expand on the limits and precision of a model?
- How do I construct an empirical argument using data to support my claim?
- How do I distinguish patterns of evidence that do and do not support conclusions?
- How do I identify a correlation between variables and determine if there is or is not causality?
- How do I identify possible weaknesses or flaws in my own and others’ conclusions and arguments?
Collection of Evidence Might Include
- Distinguishing between scientific and non-scientific questions
- Determining what data to collect
- Determining what tools are appropriate for data collection
- Determining how to record data
- Determining how much data is
needed to produce reliable
measurements, show a pattern
or trend, or show a relationship
between variables - Using valid data to explain phenomena, systems, etc.
- Understanding how knowledge is judged by the scientific community
- Using acceptable scientific resources to support investigations
- Asking questions about constraints and specifications when claiming a possible solution or explanation
- Using models to communicate complex ideas and observable or unobservable phenomena
- Using models to test understanding and experiment with ideas
- Using modeling to identify possible flaws or areas of improvement
- Using modeling to propose new understandings or communicate complex ideas
- Using technology such as laser cutting, 3D printing, or programming to test and explore phenomena or ideas
- Applying conventions of scientific research and writing to make and support claims
- Drawing conclusions based on empirical data
- Identifying outliers in collections of evidence
- Sorting relevant and irrelevant evidence
- Identifying correlations
- Showing cause and effect
- Reflecting on results and determining next steps
Quantitative Reasoning
QR
Quantitative Reasoning
How do I numerically understand, measure, compare and represent it?
Interpretation
How do I make sense of displays of numeric information?
Text
Graphs & Tables
Diagrams & Geometric Figures
Equations & Expressions
Representation
How do I display numeric information to communicate what I understand?
Equivalent Expressions
Summary Values
Graphic Representation
Calculation
How do I use numbers to find and share answers?
Estimation
Methods for Solutions
Operational Order
Simplification
Application & Analysis
How do I understand and solve real world problems?
Quantitative Analysis
Inductive Reasoning
Deductive Reasoning
Quantitative Problem Solving
Interpretation
How do I make sense of displays of numeric information?
Representation
How do I display numeric information to communicate what I understand?
Calculation
How do I use numbers to find and share answers?
Application & Analysis
How do I understand and solve real world problems?
Guiding Questions
- How do I understand and summarize numeric data given in text form?
- How do I understand and explain information presented in a graph or table?
- How do I understand and explain information presented in a diagram or other visual form?
- How do I understand and explain information presented as mathematical expressions?
- How do I write equivalent expressions to solve real world problems?
- How do I choose appropriate summary values (e.g., mean, standard deviation) to represent quantitative information?
- How do I use graphics—spreadsheets, databases, tables, graphs and statistics—to summarize, display and communicate data?
- How do I estimate and check answers to numerical problems?
- How do I use arithmetic, algebra and geometry to solve problems?
- How do I apply correct mathematical operations in the correct order?
- How do I present calculations in the simplest form relevant to the problem?
- How do I analyze quantitative data and use it to make a judgment or support a conclusion?
- How do I use inductive reasoning to predict outcomes to a real world problem?
- How do I use deductive reasoning to support conclusions for a real world argument?
- How do I use quantitative data to solve real world problems?
Collection of Evidence Might Include
- Creating accurate explanations of a range of mathematical expressions
- Demonstrating understanding in real world contexts
- Selecting the most appropriate forms (spreadsheets, databases, graphs, tables) and methods (equations, expressions, mean, mode, etc.) for representing numerical data in real world contexts
- Communicating numerical solutions to real world problems
- Using estimates to determine reasonableness, identify alternatives, select optimal results
- Presenting calculations accurately, clearly and concisely, following the conventions of the real world context
- Writing accurate code
- Using specific data (surveys, datasets, equations, etc.) to form larger hypotheses or claims about real world contexts
- Using theorems or numbers to understand specific cases or problems
- Using specific cases or problems to test numerical hypotheses
- Using numbers to understand problems
- Using numerical data to address challenges
Social Reasoning
SR
Social Reasoning
What are others' perspectives? How do actions influence outcomes?
Critical Issues & Events
How do I understand past, present, and future events?
Historical Events
Current Events
Past, Present, Future
Geography & Environment
How do I understand influences of culture, economics, politics & environment?
Geographic Information
People & Their Environment
Political Impact
Equity & Access
Institutions, Systems & Government
How do I understand influences of culture, economics, politics & environment?
Citizens & Government
Government Engagement
Large & Small Scale Finance
Systems
Human Behavior & Expression
How do I understand the causes and effects of human behavior?
Belief Systems
Human Behavior
Ethics
Power & Relationships
Critical Issues & Events
How do I understand past, present, and future events?
Geography & Environment
How do I understand influences of culture, economics, politics & environment?
Institutions, Systems & Government
How do I understand influences of culture, economics, politics & environment?
Human Behavior & Expression
How do I understand the causes and effects of human behavior?
Guiding Questions
- How do I understand historical events through sustained inquiry into those events?
- How do I explain the causes and consequences of current events?
- How do I use an understanding of past and current events to provide a solution for a current or future problem?
- How do I apply geographic information to interpret events?
- How do I interpret geographic information to explain the relationship between people and their environment?
- How do I demonstrate how geography and resource distribution impacts people?
- How do I demonstrate how equity and access shape people and their environments?
- How do I demonstrate an understanding of the rights and responsibilities of individuals?
- How do I apply an understanding of rights and responsibilities to participate in or pursue change?
- How do I address real world financial challenges in large, small or personal systems?
- How do I demonstrate an understanding of the effects of a variety of systems on one another?
- How do I apply an understanding of how social influences and belief systems shape behavior?
- How do I apply an understanding of how biology and thought processes shape behavior?
- How do I analyze ethical issues and dilemmas to support a course of action?
- How do I evaluate the role of power or privilege in a real world context?
Collection of Evidence Might Include
- Reading, interpreting and analyzing historical documents and contemporary sources
- Applying research methods associated with historical inquiry
- Developing well formed claims based on valid and reliable sources
- Explaining connections between human decisions and consequences
- Applying geographic information to more deeply understand real world challenges
- Examining the relationship between geography and economic, political or social patterns in real world contexts
- Explaining the impact of equity, access and opportunity on a range of groups of people in a range of contexts
Geography includes physical, cultural, economic, political, regional system
- Explaining rights and responsibilities in various government structures
- Engaging in government at a local, state or national scale
- Using an understanding of local policies, procedures, laws or practices
- Demonstrating an understanding of the difference between large and small scale finance
- Understanding the principles, structures and functions of various governments
- Showing how local, national and international policies affect each other
- Addressing real world challenges
- Examining group dynamics and evaluating the role of power and/or privilege in interpersonal and group relationships
- Using an understanding of human behavior to address real world problems
- Demonstrating an understanding of economics, psychology and/or sociology
Integrating competencies into projects
Most authentic projects are interdisciplinary, so projects will include elements of various competencies and targets. Here are just a few examples of how to integrate competencies.
Personal Qualities
- Write a reflection of a global issue, apply learning to own life and share.
- Research a personally relevant health issue, and connect this research project to a Health and Wellness plan.
- Research a community challenge or need early in the year. Spend the remainder of the year volunteering with a community organization that addresses that challenge or need.
- Provide a testimonial from a mentor, peer or other community member attesting to skill, responsibility, respect or integrity.
Communication
- Adapt a final product for a new user — older, younger, physically disabled, learning impaired, limited language, limited finances, etc. Make it authentic by working with and soliciting feedback from an actual user.
- Use art (visual, musical, performance) to communicate an important social issue, challenge or problem
- Study a scientific concept of interest, and communicate your understanding through fiction: a play, poem, science fiction, etc.
- Organize an exhibit of GEHS student art that is thematically connected by a social issue. Work with the City of Issaquah to create a pop-up art exhibit in one of the local parks.
Empirical Reasoning
- Study sound waves and apply the learning to the recording studio, experimenting with and documenting the effects of variables on the quality of the recording.
- Film skateboarding maneuvers and use software to analyze the velocity of these maneuvers, experimenting with variables.
- Record the speed of a cyclist on a velodrome (maybe the one at Marymoor Park). Use math to determine the cyclist’s speed on various lines of the velodrome. Use this data to design a model of a velodrome.
- Research nudge economics and then design and conduct a nudge experiment to change student productivity.
Quantitative Reasoning
- Create a scale drawing of furniture, staircase, etc. to build at a later date, and label these plans with appropriate information.
- Observe patterns (customers in a store, etc.) to make predictions for a business.
- Gather analytics from a social media account and use it to create a social media marketing plan for a small business.
- After researching a social issue, analyze data sets related to that issue and communicate your findings in an infographic.
Social Reasoning
- Research gender norms and attitudes in the 1950s and compare it to norms and attitudes now. Create a photo essay to capture your research, and display it in the Commons.
- Use King County’s Equity Maps and, using additional research, analyze the relationship among economics, resources, physical geography. Apply what you learn to mapping downtown Issaquah.
- Research how Gibson Ek can filter more of its stormwater runoff and the impact this would have on the microenvironment around GEHS as well as the larger watershed. Design a system to make this happen, create a budget, and write a grant to help implement your design.
- Research the current and potential impact of electric cars on the environment. Work with local government and the school district to get an electric car charging station at Gibson Ek.
[From the Student Handbook]
Schedule
Weekly Schedule
| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Advisory8–9 | ||||
| 9 | Advisory8:50–9:40 | Advisory & Internship Workshops (until internship begins) 8:50–12:25 or flex 4 hrs for Internship |
Exploration Studio9–10 | Advisory & Internship Workshops (until internship begins) 8:50–12:25 or flex 4 hrs for Internship |
Advisory8:50–9:40 |
| 10 | Exploration Studio9:45–11:40 | Online Math10–11 | Exploration Studio9:45–11:40 | ||
| 11 | Crash Lab11:45–12:25 | Design Lab or Inquiry Lab11–12:25 | Crash Lab11:45–12:25 | ||
| noon | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch [early dismissal] |
Lunch | Lunch |
| 1 | Online Math1:05–2 | Travel Time | Travel Time | Online Math1:05–2 | |
| 2 | Design Lab or Inquiry Lab2:05–3:25 | Student-Directed Learning (flex 2 hrs on internship days) |
Student-Directed Learning (flex 2 hrs on internship days) |
Design Lab or Inquiry Lab2:05–3:25 | |
| 3 | Advisory3:30–3:50 | Advisory3:30–3:50 |
Learning on Campus
Gibson Ek’s structure on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays is designed to support personalized, project-based learning with a community focus.
Did you know?
- Teachers are known as “advisors” and go by first names.
- 101, 201, 301, 401 = Grades 9, 10, 11, 12
- Academic quarters are called “learning cycles”
Advisory
The heart of the Gibson Ek experience, advisory is where students not only learn how to plan and manage projects, they build a close-knit community of learners. This multi-grade “family” provides a foundation for risk-taking, authentic feedback, and shared celebration.
Exploration Studio
Students use their Learning Plans to determine their focus during our open Exploration Studio work time. This might include teacher coaching, independent research, collaborative project work, use of the maker spaces, or participation in clubs or workshops.
Crash Labs
Short workshops that focus on a single skill or topic to develop skills that can be used in current or future project work. Examples include learning how to use the 3D printer, a seminar on a current issue, a book study, or project management support.
Online Math
Our students spend at least one hour, five days a week, learning through our self-paced online math platform with available tutoring support. The focus is on building mathematical skills needed for real-world problem solving, passing the state’s Smarter Balanced Assessment, and meeting college admission requirements.
Some students complete math through ISD Online Learning or Running Start. Students may request a waiver or the fourth year of math if they have completed Algebra 2, met the state’s graduation pathway requirement, and confirmed additional math is not needed for their post-high school plan.
Design Labs & Inquiry Labs
Design Labs are teacher-guided eight-week courses that model project-based learning and the Design Thinking process. Students use design thinking to address a specific real-world challenge, often incorporating visiting experts or field trips. Examples include restoring Kokanee habitat in Issaquah Creek, 3D printing devices to aid adults with physical limitations, or writing graphic novels for marginalized audiences.
Inquiry Labs are seminar-style labs – also spanning one learning cycle – in which students develop a line of inquiry into a social question, dilemma or challenge. Examples include exploring biotech solutions for human problems and detecting misinformation.
Leaving to Learn
Leaving to Learn
“Leaving to Learn” is a core tenet of the Big Picture Learning approach because we strongly believe that education is more meaningful when students engage with their communities. Many of our Design Labs include field trips. Our students’ most prominent community experiences involve our Internship program, focusing on authentic projects, career learning, and durable (soft) skills development.
Tuesdays & Thursdays at Gibson Ek
Where is everybody? What do LTI & SDL mean? How does attendance work?
From November to June, our campus is nearly empty on these two days, with most students interning and staff visiting them. SDL allows us to offer flexible internship times and staff visits. And for students, learning to manage work at home is a key durable skill.
LTI - Learning Through Internship
Internships occupy four of the six total hours of learning time each Tuesday & Thursday, and they can span any time of day that works for all.
SDL - Student-Directed Learning
Student-Directed Learning fills the remaining two hours of learning time. For SDL, every student commits to one hour of math + one hour of other requirements, which could include writing, projects, labs or health & wellness.
SDL is completed at home regardless of whether the student has an active internship; our buses pick up right after lunch – at 1 p.m. – on Tuesdays and Thursdays, year-round, to take students home for SDL time.
Students not yet in internship: They come to campus in the morning to work on finding one. When they arrive home after lunch, they are expected to work on SDL until 3:50 p.m.
Students with an active internship: They can flex their SDL work time to accommodate their internship schedule, but it should be completed before the school day ends (3:50 p.m.).
Students are responsible for reporting their LTI attendance and SDL work completion to their advisors by 3:30 p.m. each and every Tuesday and Thursday, using our online tool, ImBlaze.
Internship FAQs
What’s a typical 101 internship?
We focus first on building durable (soft) skills such as professional communication, mindset, focus, perseverance, etc. – skills that carry over into just about any workplace. We build toward career-interest-centered internships over time. Many 101s start with straightforward tasks, such as animal care, or a familiar setting, such as an elementary classroom.
How do freshmen find an internship and prepare?
We encourage students to lead their own internship searches, but we support them with training and tools. Ninth-graders spend the first six weeks in LTI workshops on campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays; they cannot begin an internship until mid-October. They may search for a good fit in our database, but that’s not their only option: Students may network through family and friends or use web searches and maps to locate and cold-contact workplaces not listed in our database.
How do students get to their internships?
The school district does not provide direct transportation, but if a family does not have the daytime flexibility to drive the student, there are other options:
- School buses run to campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:50 a.m. and pick up at 1 p.m. Some students have interned within walking distance of campus between these hours.
- King County Metro bus routes cover many destinations – and teens ride free.
- You also may have walkable, bikeable or bus-able options near your home or workplace.
- Some families have organized carpools to internship sites that host more than one student.
Do internships continue all year?
A majority of internships continue until early June, but some end early. If this occurs, students are expected to transition to a new internship as soon as possible. Students should come to campus on Tuesday & Thursday mornings to work with staff on finding a new internship.
Should a student with an active internship be on campus Tuesday & Thursday?
No. The answer is no even if the internship hours are afternoon or evening. We have no structured on-campus program on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as most staff are off-campus visiting internships. Rare exceptions and other information about attendance are detailed on our Internship web page at the link above.
Other Academics
Other Academics
Integrated Writing
Students become strong writers by writing for authentic purposes that help them meet their project, internship or post-high school goals.
Writing tasks and expected quality are defined by the needs of the situation and the expectations of the field. Writing happens in multiple contexts such as marketing for businesses, analyzing scientific data, speaking in front of government bodies, pursuing an internship, or writing a screenplay.
Writing labs include direct writing instruction, and advisors are available during Exploration Studio to support writing instruction.
Lab Sciences
Students develop knowledge of lab sciences –biology, chemistry, physics – through personal projects, labs, &/or internships. They also have the option of taking traditional lab science courses through ISD Online Learning or Running Start (juniors and seniors).
Gibson Ek Design Labs that include labs in biology, chemistry or physics are designated in the course catalog. Since Washington state colleges review lab science experience for admissions, these labs are designated as such on students’ transcripts.
World Languages
World Language is not a graduation requirement in the Issaquah School District, but many students pursue a world language out of personal interest or for college admissions.
The four-year college admission standard requires two or three years of a single language.
Gibson Ek students take a world language through ISD Online Learning or Running Start. Biliterate students can also take the World Language Competency exam.
College Planning
Our students are enrolled in and have graduated from universities all over the state, nation and globe. We are members of the Mastery Transcript Consortium, an organization of competency-based high schools that is familiar to colleges.
Meeting our graduation requirements is similar to meeting credit requirements at traditional high schools, and, similar to traditional schools, students may need to complete more than the basic graduation requirements to be competitive for certain programs. For example, some colleges require higher math levels than the graduation requirement of completing Algebra 2. Most schools require at least two years of a world language.
Students work with their advisors and our counselor to ensure they are pursuing the opportunities necessary for their college goals.
Other post-high school opportunities
Gibson Ek prepares students to pursue diverse post-high school pathways. This includes personal project and internship opportunities that might prepare a student to enter an apprenticeship, technical program, certification program, military or gainful employment after high school.
Running Start
Juniors and seniors can take one or two community or technical college courses at a time, usually at Bellevue College, Central Washington University Extension Campus or Renton Technical College. These courses give students an opportunity to try a more traditional class and earn college credit.
Registration opens four times each year, and the counselor can help students explore this option or register for classes. Students may share their learning in their portfolios as a way to build competency in one or more of the five learning areas.
WANIC
Juniors and seniors who are on track to graduate may participate in WANIC as an alternative to internship because WANIC aligns well with our internship program’s goals. (Running Start, however, cannot be taken as an internship alternative.)
WANIC, funded by Eastside school districts, offers career-focused half-day programs in areas such as automotive, aviation, building trades, medical, tech and digital art, firefighting, and culinary. WANIC requires a daily commitment and transportation. Information is provided to sophomores before the April registration deadline. Read more on the WANIC page under Academics at gibsonek.isd411.org
Tracking Learning
Tracking Learning
Most feedback and assessment happens throughout the process of a project so students can make revisions. Students collect evidence of their learning in their portfolios. They meet with their advisor, who assesses the work and updates their dashboard. But our advisors aren’t the only ones who see student work ...
Exhibitions
Instead of exams, Gibson Ek students present their learning, growth and progress toward personal and academic goals in an exhibition every quarter. These are approached as an assessment of the whole learner rather than the particulars of a task.
Exhibition is the time when students make the case that they have engaged in deep learning to pursue their visions. Families, as well as mentors, are encouraged to attend three of the four exhibitions and provide feedback.
PANEL EXHIBITIONS: Held in January and June, the end of each semester. Each student has an hour time slot, with the advisor, peers, family, mentors and sometimes other staff in the audience. (Students practice for this during advisory-only “mini-exhibitions” in October.)
DESIGN EXHIBITION: Held in March, this is a science-fair-style exhibition in which each student displays and explains one project that follows the Design Thinking process. School is open to the entire community for the morning, and students are given one of three timeslots to show their work.
Mastery Transcript
Gibson Ek is a member of the nationally recognized Mastery Transcript Consortium, which provides a uniform tool for colleges to view the work of students who attend project-based high schools and engage in competency-based learning. Each student’s Mastery Transcript outlines key projects and competency mastery.
Learning Portfolios
If you want to see your student’s work, check out their Learning Portfolio. Organized by projects and experiences, students use evidence to demonstrate growth in competencies. Portfolios share all stages of work, including the rough stuff. Students and advisors review the evidence in the portfolios to determine next steps and determine when students have demonstrated competencies.
Access: Students share a link with their families.
Dashboard & Progress Reporting
Unlike ISD attendance-area middle and high schools, Gibson Ek does not use Canva, nor do we track learning through points and grades. And our students and staff primarily use Google rather than Microsoft products for communication and learning management. To see your student’s level of progress or to view the twice-quarterly progress reports, go to the Student Dashboard. It includes 4 sections:
4-Year Overview + Competency Progress: student’s annual progress toward graduation, including met competencies
Snapshot: snapshot of student’s progress at each of the 8 progress reporting periods (mid- and end- learning cycle)
Growth: the competency areas in which a student has provided evidence, and their current level of learning
Access: Families receive a link for all 4 years. Need yours? Contact the principal.
Google Classroom
Find assignments and deadlines for labs and Advisory in Google Classroom.
Access: At the start of the year, families receive an email from Google Classroom asking for preferences about updates. Updates include missing assignments & upcoming deadlines. Not seeing the email? Contact your student’s advisor.
Online Math
We use a diagnostic platform that customizes content based on what students consistently show they know. It is self-paced and includes opportunities to relearn and practice before moving on.
Access: At the start of each year, families receive an email to sign up for a weekly progress check. Not seeing the email? Contact the school counselor.
ImBlaze Internship Database & Attendance
To view this information as a parent or guardian, please ask your student to share their link or login.
I acknowledge that I am on the Indigenous Land of Coast Salish people who have reserved treaty rights to this land, specifically the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe (sdukʷalbixʷ). I thank these caretakers of this land who have lived and continue to live here since time immemorial.
