Nex+Gen Academy High School is a small, tuition-free, public school of choice within Albuquerque Public Schools. Our mission is to create a community where learning and global citizenship are cultivated to create future leaders. Career readiness for the modern economy is a critical piece of our school design. Given the pace of change in the workplace,  it is impossible to know what employment opportunities will exist five years from now. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, graduates from high school will likely change their job ten times before they are forty. In order to prepare students for this challenging environment, we explicitly teach the skills we believe are imperative to their success and are broadly applicable across fields. Our students must emerge from school knowledgeable in the core subjects and arts, but they must also act as curious individuals who can communicate well, collaborate effectively, and take the initiative to get things done. 

Project-based learning (PBL) is the primary strategy employed at nex+Gen Academy. It is at the center of our school design. In PBL, students collaborate in teams of 2-5 to master the curriculum by developing a solution to a real-world problem or answering a complex question. This rigorous process activates student curiosity, driving the acquisition of knowledge through self-directed research, and applying that knowledge to the development of a final product. Examples of products include presentations, written papers, videos, podcasts, newspaper articles, websites, or advertising campaigns. Whenever possible, we have students present their final products to an authentic audience composed of experts and volunteers from the community. Teachers provide lessons, resources, and give homework, however, during project work time, teachers act as facilitators overseeing the students’ engagement in their own learning. They circulate the classroom asking questions, giving suggestions, and providing individual support to students as needed.