MHS/MVTHS Semi-finalist in $10 Million School Grant Competition

Over a year in the making, Medford High School, under the direction of Dr. John Perella and the Medford Vocational Technical High School, under the direction of Dr. Heidi Riccio, have been working together on “XQ: The Super School Project”, a campaign to develop new plans for high schools.

Laurene Powell Jobs, wife of Steven P. Jobs, who famously rebooted Apple with a “Think Different” advertising campaign, has brought together her team of high-profile educators and designers to rethink high school. According to Ms. Powell Jobs, “The system was created for the work force we needed 100 years ago. Things are not working the way we want it to be working. There is a huge gap between what students want for their future and what their schools are offering. We’re saying, ‘Start from scratch'”.

MHS and MVTHS completed the initial application for this project. That submission moved their application into the semi-finalist round. Working together, the schools produced “The Medford Academy of the Possible” which was submitted to the Emerson Collective, the group that Ms. Powell Jobs uses to finance her philanthropic projects.

“Our team of faculty members, students, parents and external educational partners took on the challenge to rethink what the American High School should be. We had already begun to bring the high school and the vocational technical high school more in line with each other, in order to allow more cross -over and flexibility for our students. XQ: The Super School Project forced us to really be even more creative and open ourselves to all kinds of possibilities that a high school education can provide”, said Dr. Perella.

“Bringing together all aspects of the high school and vocational technical world was important in preparing this video. We wanted teachers, students, staff, local businesses and grass-roots groups to tell us what they would like to see provided in a high school educational setting. We all agreed that new approaches, methods and tools are important ways to create a new model for our educational system. We are proud that the Super School challenge has enabled us to work together to be innovative, resourceful and inspired”, said Dr. Riccio.

“This is just another great example of our administrators taking the lead to creatively try to improve the educational experience at the Medford Public Schools. Five schools will be chosen from the applications and each of those would be awarded $10 million to turn their inventive dreams into a reality. We are thrilled that Medford has been chosen as a semi-finalist”, said Superintendent of Schools Roy Belson.

– Submitted by the Medford Public Schools