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Lighthouse Schools Challenge Recipients Announced
Office of Innovation Awards $600,000 to Support Personalized Learning
PROVIDENCE, RI - Today, the Rhode Island Office of Innovation and the Rhode Island Association of School Principals (RIASP) announced the three winners of the Lighthouse Schools Challenge: Captain Isaac Paine Elementary School in Foster, Barrington Middle School in Barrington, and 360 High School in Providence. These schools were chosen from a candidate pool of 30 and will each receive an award of $200,000 to support their continued leadership on personalized learning.
"Congratulations to the winning schools, and to all of the applicants who offered bold, innovative plans to inspire and engage all students," said Governor Gina M. Raimondo. "These Lighthouse Schools are pioneers in personalized learning, and their work will light the way for school communities across the state to reimagine the possibilities for individualized education."
The Lighthouse Schools initiative recognizes schools that are leading the way on a student-centered approach to education that engages and challenges students with relevant, rigorous learning opportunities. Through personalized learning, instructional pace and approach are tailored to match the needs of each student, and students have flexibility in how they access knowledge and demonstrate learning.
"I'm excited by the work our Lighthouse Schools are doing, and look forward to working with them going forward in a way that balances personalization and rigor," said Ken Wagner, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education. "Rhode Island is a national leader in this work, and our Lighthouse Schools will ensure that we stay on the cutting edge of personalized learning."
“Rhode Island is poised to become the first state to bring personalized learning to scale. This Lighthouse Schools Challenge is just one example of that," said Daniela Fairchild, director of education for the RI Office of Innovation. "We had an incredibly impressive candidate field. I am honored and thrilled to support the work of our three award recipients and help share their learnings with schools and districts across the state.”
"The diversity of this cohort illustrates the depth of talent, passion, and commitment we have in Rhode Island. These three schools have an exciting challenge ahead of them, and we look forward to leveraging their experiences in order to scale up best practices and accelerate progress in all our member schools," said Don Rebello, president of RIASP.
Over the next two years, these Lighthouse Schools Challenge recipients will bring personalized learning to scale in their schools with a continued focus on rigor and student preparedness. They will act as “lighthouses” to guide and support other Rhode Island schools in this work, serving as mentors and case studies.
The challenge was announced in March 2017. Out of the 30 original applicants, 12 finalists were selected in April and participated in a series of workshops to support their planning and school-level work. The finalists submitted proposals in July, and winning applications were selected by a committee with principal, teacher, parent, and student representation, as well as the Office of Innovation, the Rhode Island Department of Education, the Rhode Island School Superintendents Association (RISSA), and RIASP.
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