Design Principles

Aspiration

The Willoughby-Eastlake School of Innovation is a STEAM platform school established to serve students from 3rd through 8th grade. It is designed to provide its students with a standards-based, design-focused curriculum that is centered on solving real-world problems and tooling students with twenty-first century STEAM skills. As a community focused school, the School of Innovation will create an open environment that invites partnerships from higher education, STEAM business and industry and STEAM non-profits all to support its mission and processes for learning. All School of Innovation students will graduate as life-long learners, intrinsically motivated to solve the most challenging problems facing the globe and committed to Willoughby-Eastlake and northeast Ohio. 

Design Principles 

Design Principle #1: Value every member of the School of Innovation learning community equally to promote a culture of caring and support. 

Design Principle #2: Value and use the design process including the need to design-test-redesign, to create, foster and develop all students to be able innovators who have a high level of knowledge and skills and are capable of solving real- world as well as community problems.

Design Principle #3: Create a culture that values innovation, creativity, inventive and analytical thinking.

Design Principle #4: Foster the development of socially responsible leaders who care and are able to focus globally as well as locally.

Design Principle #5: Value and promote full collaboration, self-motivation, self–direction, informed risk-taking and lifelong learning for all innovators.

Design Principle #6: Engage partnerships to advance school capacities and broaden student, teacher and administrative opportunities and resources.

Design Principle #7: Promote systems and procedures that ensure all of Willoughby-Eastlake schools benefit from the School of Innovation.