ST ANN SCHOOL

I met with Principal Hope Lippens at St Ann School in East Harlem to discuss the school's philosophy and approach to 'personalised learning'. She met with me for 2 hours, discussing everything from the school's utilisation of a software that track a student's personal progress in detail, to the way in which the classroom is set up into different 'stations' and how lesson time is always busy, and loud, and filled with activity.

Afterwards, she toured me around the school and we discussed the restrictions of old New York school buildings and how they are not necessarily the best environments for alternative learning. However, the school makes do, and will build an extension on the roof for an 'indoor and outdoor' classroom. The school land is owned by the adjacent church and convent from which the school gets its name from. Whilst interaction is limited, the school and the church do sometimes collaborate.

As a building, St Ann is standalone and does not share its space with any other schools, therefore the students do have ownership over their school and it seems like a thriving NYC school that against all odds has tackled some of the education system's issues, e.g. lack of motivation, distraction, under-performance amongst others.

This school had a unique approach to learning that I should consider when designing a new school and pedagogy.