St. Andrew’s Episcopal School is an independent, co-educational school located in Potomac, Maryland, where the application of the All Kinds of Minds approach can be seen on multiple fronts throughout a school day.
At St. Andrew’s, every grade and/or course has a “Course Overview” map that includes the essential question for each student: “Who am I as a learner?” Curriculum maps include an All Kinds of Minds Frame that showcase the three predominant neurodevelopmental constructs that are most often hit during a year.
Their extensive implementation of the AKOM approach has deepened St. Andrew’s teacher comfort level with the content to a point where it is second nature and has allowed them to create multiple programs and tools based on AKOM philosophies. Among these are formal and informal one-on-one conversations between teachers and students that help demystify the learning experience using the Management by Profile protocol; at St. Andrew’s this is called “Attuning on the Run.”
Another example of innovation with the AKOM approach at St. Andrew’s is a 6th grade class, titled “Transitions: A Journey to Being a Successful Student,” which includes five learning profile-related questions”: 1) How do I best learn? 2) How do I learn from others? 3) What tools do I need to be the best student possible? 4) What are my academic challenges and vulnerabilities and how do I compensate for them? 5) What are my academic strengths and how can I work to incorporate them into my areas of areas of academic vulnerability?
“Initially, All Kinds of Minds represented an opportunity to enhance our professional practice and create more consistency in how we talked and worked with students, families, and each other,” St. Andrew’s Head of School Robert Kosasky commented. “The common language and framework of AKOM provides an important resource that supports our commitment to the school’s mission and gives us a comprehensive understanding of the neurodevelopmental demands of teaching and learning; this innovative educational model improves learning for all of our students.”
St. Andrew’s has become a recognized leader of exceptional teaching and learning. In August 2010 St. Andrew’s faculty created and led the first “Brain and Learning” Workshop for Washington, DC-area Teach for America corps teachers. The first three days of the workshop included delivery of the Teaching All Kinds of Minds course. Through its Teach for America partnership, St. Andrew’s is helping to improve instruction in dozens of local public schools.
