Jim visited our studio to talk about how he, his team and the Synapse School community built a school from the ground up with an innovate approach to education.
The best way to describe what Synapse is doing is educating Change Makers by focusing keenly on Social-Emotional Learning, innovation and leading edge academics.
Their teachers, who are as committed as they are remarkable, build classroom communities and relationships based on trust, an essential ingredient in teaching and learning, while they cultivate in their students curiosity, creativity and risk-taking.
Most importantly, they are about helping human beings be better human beings.
Listen in for this fun, "educational" conversation.
ABOUT JIM EAGEN
Jim Eagen believes that when schools and their leaders focus less on what to change and more importantly, embrace constant change in order to develop the critical skills of implementing change, transformation in education is possible. Jim has enjoyed a wonderful 35 year career in independent schools, first as a student, then as classroom teacher, coach, and administrator, and now, in his 11th year, as the Head of School at Synapse, a one-of-kind K-8 lab school in Menlo Park with a signature project based curriculum and brain-based framework.
Synapse has grown exponentially in size and impact under his leadership and has earned a reputation for being a place where students, teachers and families thrive in large part due to Jim’s vision and energy.
When not at Synapse, presenting about Synapse, or talking to just about anyone who
will listen to him about Synapse, he can often be found on a ride, on a run, or laughing and learning with his wife, dog, and their two kids, a college senior and a high school senior.
EPISODE LINKS
- Synapse School
https://www.synapseschool.org
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