Avalon School is a charter school located in the heart of St. Paul. They’ve taken a revolutionary new look at how we educate our kids. They focus on project based learning. Students make proposals of things they’d like to examine, and work with teachers and community members to carry out their plans. They’ve got remarkable college entrance rates, and function as a true teacher coop run school. Is this the future of education?

Check out their mission statement.

AVALON will:

• Create a content–rich curriculum with a global emphasis, stressing depth over breadth and drawing upon the passions and interests of its students.
• Build a school culture and set of core values centered on excellence and active citizenship.
• Focus on developing interpersonal, communication and learning skills to complement academic achievement.
• Draw upon the greater non–teacher community for mentors to help students identify their intellectual passions, develop their individual learning styles, teach real–life skills, offer apprenticeship opportunities, and pinpoint potential contributions to their community.
• Develop international and cross–cultural awareness and cooperation. This may include exchanges, correspondence and partnerships with schools in other countries, potentially including high schools abroad that share this focus.
• Develop leadership opportunities for all participants. All members of the school community will be involved in decision–making, and students will be given a real voice and stake in the school.