Model Center

Approach

Model's curriculum incorporates the following beliefs, creating a learning environment unlike any other in Bloomfield Hills Schools.

Core Competencies

Model developed the following six Core Competencies that are the basis for our curriculum. We have identified skills in each of these areas which we hope to cultivate in our students. By creating an active learning environment which involves students in research, discussion, involvement in the community, production of knowledge and presentation, we engage students in using these competencies everyday...whether they are fully conscious of it or not. Students of this generation will continuously be put in the position of having to learn new things. These skills should give them the power to whatever they need to know, whenever they need to learn it.

• Inquiry & Investigation
• Problem Solving & Decision Making
• Creativity & Aesthetic Awareness
• Communication & Human Interaction
• Self Awareness
• Ethics and Social Responsibility

Core Values

Model has developed the following six Core Values that determine how we operate together as a staff, and with students. These are the filter through which we make decisions, and the values that we want our students to operate from. Students who choose to enter Model need to buy into these values on some level; the program breaks down if we lose sight of any of them.

• Meaningful Work
• Growth
• Intellectual Engagement
• Quality Relationships
• Building Community
• Fostering Creativity

Curriculum

Model's goal is to enhance the curriculum taught at Bloomfield Hills high schools though unique course offerings like:

• Women's Studies
• Religion & Western Literature
• Film & Composition 1 & 2
• Film Production
• Digital Narratives
• Health Psychology
• Theories of Self
• Microbiology
• Human Pathology
• Zoology
• Genetics & Biotechnology

These courses allow deep learning to take place, giving students alternatives to standard high school courses yet still fulfilling important academic requirements. At Model, students feel safe, free to explore new ideas and discover the world. With an average student to teacher ratio of only 18:1, our instructors let students take the lead, shaping the curriculum to fit their needs, interests and abilities.

Deep engagement takes place when students are empowered to construct their education and a natural sense of responsibility and accountability usually leads to extraordinary success.

Model courses are described in the High School Course Description Book.

Assessment

Classroom methodology centers on dialogue, themes, individual and group research, conferencing, presentation, peer response, community involvement, online referencing and active engagement with content. Students demonstrate their learning not by test scores, but by assessment of course logs, journals, writing and oral presentations. Because we focus on active demonstrations of knowledge, there is no grading by bell curve.

College

From Harvard to the Sorbonne University in Paris, Model graduates enjoy tremendous success at their university of choice. While transcripts and SAT/ACT scores are virtually identical to those students who attended Bloomfield Hills High School full-time, Model students enter the college admission process with clear advantages. Our emphasis on strong written, visual and oral communication skills assists in the college essay portfolio and interview process. A smaller school allows for more personalized recommendations for students' college applications. And participation in our distinct learning environment is of interest to many college admissions personnel.

College Representatives

Model provides an interdisciplinary, part-time program option for students from Bloomfield Hills High School. Students take Model courses in two, four or six course time blocks. They may weave their courses together by designing research projects that examine problems through the lens of the different disciplines, overarching questions, or themes.

Model is not an alternative school. It is a completely restructured program with a structure that is more akin to a contemporary workplace. Model acts as a lab school for the District. The faculty commits to keeping abreast of the latest research on the brain, on learning theory, in futuring, and in specific disciplines. Faculty base their curriculum on this research.

Model stresses passion for learning and active involvement in the process. This is a place for students who are clear about what they value and want to surpass the limits imposed by textbooks. This is a place where they can write four novels in two years, compose a symphony to the spotted owl, write a film script and produce the film, learn a computer language and write software, or pose a scientific question and design the labs to answer it. If a student is searching for meaning, we support the search.

Model grades are based on an individual student's growth during a semester, not on a bell curve. Because all instruction at Model is individualized, recommendations from Model teachers or conversations with them are the best way to determine the academic strengths of a given student. Model students should also be able to present you with a portfolio of writing and research in an admissions interview.

Because of the energetic learning environment that values participation in building community, Model alumni tend to be enthusiastic contributors to campus life at college. They are likely to bring creativity and their ability to solve problems into their relationship with your school.