Downtown High School, Tucked Among High-Rises, With Little More Than 50 Students, Is Making Its Mark On The World
CHICAGO (CBS) -- There's a good chance you've never seen a high school like the one we discovered right across the street from our CBS 2 newsroom. Though it's small – only 53 students – their learning experience extends far beyond its downtown building.
The Global Citizenship Experience Lab School is located on Washington Street, just west of State Street, in the heart of the Loop. The location itself signals this is something different; no school yard, no school buses, no school bells.
"Our highest aspiration at GCE Lab School is to provide a premier high school education to the youth of Chicago," said head of school Cabel King. "There are no bells. We treat the school day like a workday. Everybody needs to make it to their appointments on time."
"So it is not just textbook learning, but it is an immersive experience that engages the young person," he added.
The entire city is their classroom. Trips outside the school are routine.
"Both inside and outside the classroom; we've been able to meet with all kinds of people from different fields of work," said student Kaylie Hamernick.
"We want education to be sticky," King said. "That happens when it is linked to an embodied experience, when all five senses are engaged."
So when they study water scarcity in other parts of the world, they might head to the Chicago River.
"In that context, they'll do some environmental science, and biology and chemistry. They'll do some algebra and geometry," King said.
A trip to the cemetery could be an exploration of population or public health.
When artist Armani Howard painted a mural for the school, students helped create the concept.
"I wanted to make sure that if we were going to do the piece the students were involved," he said. "It's about being the light that you are, embracing that, and not being afraid to guide others through that direction."
All of this is designed to encourage students to determine how their academic pursuits might tackle the world's problems.
"Students are definitely held accountable for their work. It's more so the self-accountability more than the teachers are like, 'Oh, you're behind, you're behind.' It's more so up to the student to make sure they're on top of their work," said student Nakiya'h Longstreet.
"Their strengths are emphasized more than their deficits," King said. "Everybody is encouraged to contribute in whatever way that they might."
The GCE Lab School is private, but tuition is based on what parents can afford to pay. The school now has 53 students, and to hopes to expand to 170 students in 6 to 8 years.