Guest: Michelle Trojan, Principal, Intrinsic Schools (Chicago, IL) Hosts: Vashaunta Harris & Jim Goenner Guest Host: Don Cooper Powered by the National Charter Schools Institute | Sponsored by The Founders Library

What does innovation in education really mean?

In Episode 3, the conversation challenges a common assumption: innovation isn’t always about inventing something entirely new — it’s often about trying, improving, and adapting what works.

Vashaunta Harris, Jim Goenner, and guest host Don Cooper explore key ideas from this week’s readings, including the tension between uniformity and pluralism and the role of innovation happening closest to students — in classrooms, not policy.

Then, they turn to practice.

Joined by Michelle Trojan of Intrinsic Schools in Chicago, the episode highlights a school where innovation is not a program — it’s a mindset. From its Montessori-inspired design to its team-teaching “pod” model and flexible use of time, Intrinsic continuously evolves to meet student needs.

Students take ownership of their learning through structures like C Day, where they choose academic support, enrichment, and leadership opportunities based on real-time data and personal goals. The school also expands what success looks like — connecting students to careers, trades, college pathways, and real-world experiences.

Michelle’s story brings it full circle: leading a school in the same neighborhood where her own family once struggled to find the right educational fit — now creating access and opportunity for the next generation.

As Don reflects, Intrinsic embodies a core truth: innovation happens closest to the problem — and closest to students.

• Theme: Innovation as Iteration — Trying, Improving, Adapting • Readings:

• Kolderie: Innovation is Schools and Teachers Trying New Things

• Berner: Uniformity vs. Pluralism

• Guest host: Don Cooper • Featured school: Intrinsic Schools (Chicago, IL)

Key Model Elements: • Team-teaching “pod” structure (gen ed + special ed collaboration) • Montessori-inspired design adapted for secondary students • Flexible learning spaces and real-time data use • Weekly “C Day” for student choice, support, and enrichment

Student Experience: • Ownership of learning through goal-setting and choice • Exposure to careers, trades, and postsecondary pathways • Networking nights, career shadowing, and partnerships • $1.5M annual scholarship support + alumni coaching

Big Ideas: • Innovation is continuous improvement, not one-time change • Pluralism allows schools to reflect different student needs and communities • Structure — not just choice — shapes what’s possible in education • Schools should prepare students to be confident, capable contributors to society

#BoldByChoice

Guest: Belicia Reaves, Executive Director, Two Rivers Public Charter School (Washington, D.C.) Hosts: Vashaunta Harris & Jim Goenner Guest Host: Don Cooper Powered by the National Charter Schools Institute | Sponsored by The Founders Library

In Episode 2, we move from theory to practice — exploring how the democratic purpose of education comes to life inside real schools.

Vashaunta Harris, Jim Goenner, and guest host Don Cooper are joined by Belicia Reaves of Two Rivers Public Charter School, a community-rooted school designed around inquiry, diversity, and shared responsibility.

From preschoolers designing and building a bench for their school garden to middle school students leading service projects across their city, this conversation highlights how students learn democracy by practicing it — through real problems, real decisions, and real relationships.

Belicia shares how Two Rivers was founded to meet a deeper civic need: developing not just academic skills, but compassionate, responsible citizens. Through project-based learning, student-led conferences, and a strong culture of “crew, not passengers,” the school intentionally builds both individual agency and collective responsibility.

Together, the hosts reflect on a central tension in public education: how to balance family choice with shared norms, and how schools can serve as true civic infrastructure — preparing students not just for careers, but for participation in community and democracy.

As Belicia reminds us, when schools are designed with purpose, students don’t just learn about the world — they learn how to shape it.

• Theme: The Democratic Purposes of Public Education • Reading: Rediscovering the Democratic Purposes of Education (Moe, Ch. 6) • Guest host: Don Cooper • Featured school: Two Rivers PCS (Washington, D.C.)

Host Framing Questions: • What is most misunderstood about democracy’s role in education today? • Are schools designed as democratic institutions—or delivery systems? • What did chartering originally make possible around voice, pluralism, and participation? • What tensions do schools avoid: choice vs. coherence, diversity vs. consistency? • What would change if we truly designed schools for democratic purpose?

In Practice at Two Rivers: • Inquiry-based, project-based learning • Diverse, community-rooted design • “Crew, not passengers” culture • Students solving real problems (garden bench project) • Middle school service learning grounded in civic engagement • Student-led conferences and standards-based grading

Big Ideas: • Democracy is learned through participation, not abstraction • Schools can serve as civic infrastructure • Balancing family choice with shared community values • Preparing students to be active participants in society

#BoldByChoice

Featuring: Brett Peterson, Director at High Tech High Mesa (San Diego, CA) Student Guest: Isabella Coralez, Junior at High Tech High Hosts: Vashaunta Harris & Jim Goenner Guest Host: Don Cooper Powered by the National Charter Schools Institute | Sponsored by The Founders Library

Season 4 of Bold by Choice begins with a new lens. Rather than focusing only on individual schools, this season explores the ideas behind the charter movement — the thinking that makes new and different kinds of public schools possible.

The charter idea was never meant to create a separate sector of education. It was intended to introduce pluralism, innovation, and new possibilities within public education, allowing educators and communities to design schools around how students actually learn.

In this opening episode, hosts Vashaunta Harris and Jim Goenner are joined by guest host Don Cooper to frame the season’s central question: What does the charter idea make possible today? Drawing on foundational readings including Reinventing America’s Schools and other core texts shaping the season, the hosts explore how chartering emerged as a movement to rethink the structure and purpose of public education.

To bring those ideas to life, the conversation turns to High Tech High in San Diego, one of the country’s most influential project-based public charter schools.

Director Brett Peterson reflects on the founding purpose of High Tech High — responding to concerns that students were graduating without the skills, confidence, and real-world experience needed for the modern world. High Tech High responded with bold design choices: integrated courses, project-based learning, exhibitions of student work, and strong relationships between teachers and students.

Junior Isabella Coralez shares the student perspective, describing how internships, projects, and integrated coursework connect learning to the real world and help students see themselves as creators, problem-solvers, and contributors.

Together, the hosts and guests explore the tradeoffs behind intentional school design — including High Tech High’s choice to prioritize project-based learning and authentic demonstrations of learning rather than traditional structures like AP course tracks.

The episode closes with a reflective conversation about what High Tech High reveals about the charter idea itself: that the true promise of chartering lies in creating space for educators to design schools differently while remaining accountable to students, families, and communities.

Season 4 invites listeners to think deeply about the future of public education — not by searching for a single model to replicate, but by exploring the ideas that make meaningful innovation possible.

• Season Theme: The Charter Idea Today — What’s Possible • Chartering as a movement for educational pluralism, not simply a sector of schools • Core reading: Reinventing America’s Schools by David Osborne • Guest host: Don Cooper • Featured school: High Tech High — San Diego, California • Key design elements:

• Project-based learning

• Integrated coursework

• Small schools and teaching teams

• No academic tracking

• Student exhibitions and real-world projects • Student voice: learning connected to community, internships, and authentic problem-solving • Tradeoffs in school design and why intentional choices matter • Season 4 explores pluralism, innovation, student agency, and the evolving charter idea

#BoldByChoice