Given the chance to design an innovative high school program, The Lovett School’s Laura Deisley took a page from the playbook used by leadership programs in many cities and counties. Why not, she asked, take motivated 10th graders from Atlanta public schools and provide the same opportunities to explore and learn about the city?
The resulting program, Lab Atlanta, does just that. After winning grants and raising more than $1 million to fund the concept, Deisley designed a one-semester curriculum that gets teens out of their home classrooms and into the real world. It launched last spring with a cohort of 10 with a mix of interests and backgrounds.
“We felt strongly that students need opportunities to get out of all the bubbles – not just the Buckhead or city bubble,” she said. “Increasingly, we’re looking for ways to help students adapt to the rapidly changing world, and to do that, we believe they need to be a part of it. So the more we can break the mold, the more opportunities there are for students to engage with the real world.”
Though the lab is a project of The Lovett School, students meet at a neutral location in Midtown rather than on Lovett’s Buckhead campus. The curriculum includes traditional coursework as well as field excursions. Students have toured Buford Highway, the old Atlanta Civic Center, the Museum of Design Atlanta and exhibits on urban planning. Observational assignments combine history, English, photography and visual arts as students examine issues and explore ways to engage as citizens.
“We look at race relations, affordable housing, access to transportation, equity and access, as well as what a city that will grow by half a million people in the next 20 years will look like,” said Deisley. “We’re intentional about having students approach the city through historical, literary and sociological lenses, and having them engage with people through mentoring, doing interviews and exploring archives. They’re beginning to understand the city through primary documents and real people.”
Being a part of Lab Atlanta’s first semester last spring was an eye-opener for Buckhead resident Hunter Smith, who attends North Atlanta High. The 16-year-old investigated the city’s affordable housing market, presented a conference paper on the issue and is now working on an app to help potential buyers identify affordable neighborhoods.
“I wanted to change my learning environment. I’d been in Atlanta public schools since pre-K,” said Smith. “But one of the main selling points was the city is your classroom. I’ve lived in Atlanta all my life and driven past historical sites but didn’t know why there were important. I’d never been to Buford Highway or realized how the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood is being gentrified.”
This spring’s lab team has 11 students from eight public schools in the city and Gwinnett County. Deisley’s goal is to have as many as 24 students each term – a goal she may reach quickly after having received a $250,000 gift and a $100,000 challenge grant from anonymous philanthropists in November.
“Tenth grade is a compelling year, when students are really beginning high school and aren’t in the college sprint yet,” said Deisley. “It’s a time kids want to know more about themselves and the world that’s very different than the one in which we were raised. Lab is little like creating a Beltline that connects instead of separates students who are more representative of the city rather than a typical private school.”
Information about application deadlines for Lab Atlanta: labatlanta.org or 678-428-7996.
About the Author
