PPI - Radically Pragmatic
  • Donate
Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Locations
    • Careers
  • People
  • Projects
  • Our Work
  • Events
  • Donate

Our Work

Schools of the Future: California’s Summit Public Schools

  • January 7, 2016
  • David Osborne
Download PDF

The first time I visited a Summit Public School, in February 2014, I pulled up in front of a long, low, one-story building in an office park setting. I was sure I had the wrong address—but no, there was a sign. This was Summit Denali, in Sunnyvale, California.

Inside, my surprise deepened. All the students, then sixth graders, were in one big, open area. Most were working on their own, at laptops. A few were working with another student, or in hushed conversations with teachers. One was on a sofa, reading. All their chairs, desks, tables, and whiteboards were on wheels, so the space could be instantly reconfigured.

Diane Tavenner, Summit’s co-founder and CEO, explained that she and her colleagues had spent the last two years piloting profound changes in their education process, and this year they had rolled out the new, personalized model in all seven of their Bay Area charter schools. “The industrial model is really driven by adults,” she said. “Kids come in, they’re told where to go, where to sit, what they’re going to learn, when they’re going to learn it. You’re on the assembly line. We believe the next generation models are about the students being empowered to drive their own learning.”

Download “2016.01-Osborne_Schools-of-the-Future_Californias-Summit-Public-Schools”

Related Work

Podcast  |  August 29, 2025

The Union Podcast Episode 9: Education Reform in New Orleans on Katrina’s 20th Anniversary

  • Curtis Valentine Rachel Canter
Op-Ed  |  August 27, 2025

Manno for Washington Monthly: Why AI Could Be a Boon for Workers

  • Bruno Manno
Press Release  |  August 27, 2025

New Orleans’ 20-Year Transformation Offers National Lessons on School Reform

  • Emily Langhorne Rachel Canter
Publication  |  August 27, 2025

20 Years of Reinvention: Education Reform in New Orleans

  • Emily Langhorne Rachel Canter
Podcast  |  August 22, 2025

The Union Podcast Episode 8

  • Curtis Valentine
Op-Ed  |  August 14, 2025

Manno for Forbes: Parents Reshape K-12 Public Education As Students Go Back To School

  • Bruno Manno
  • Never miss an update:

  • Subscribe to our newsletter
PPI Logo
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Donate
  • Careers
  • © 2025 Progressive Policy Institute. All Rights Reserved.
  • |
  • Privacy Policy
  • |
  • Privacy Settings