To help support the transition into a new school building that combines five schools, we provided Bethel Park School District with professional learning opportunities that would build community and prepare teachers with skills to maximize the new learning space–both indoors and outdoors. The Children’s Museum has led two consecutive summer leadership retreats.  

The first focused on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) — a research-based framework for creating accessible and engaging learner-driven instruction. Educators engaged in a design challenge, used our research-based MAKESHOP Principles of Practice to better understand the learning that happens during open-ended inquiry, applied the UDL Framework to improve a lesson design, and engaged in play-based activities (including a climb through Gymlacium) to better understand and empathize with student perspectives. 

The second year extended this learning to show how Thinking Routines, such as those created by Harvard’s Project Zero, can be applied across content areas to deepen learning. In partnership with the Pittsburgh Botanic Gardens, we explored the benefits of making, art, and the outdoors for learning while we examined assessment and looked at ways to make it both fun and meaningful. Participants closed the day with a competitive nest-building challenge that integrated all their learning from the day. 

Work with Bethel Park is ongoing, and we cannot wait to see what’s next!