Teaching Video

How One Principal Transformed His School With Student-Centered Learning

March 25, 2019 3:00

When Principal Hamish Brewer came to Fred M. Lynn Middle School in 2017, the school was considered one of the most challenged in Prince William County, Va. The school had lost its accreditation. Forty percent of students at the school are English-language learners and 87 percent are low-income. But through a series of changes—both philosophical and practical—Brewer and his team are turning the school around. With a laser-focus on the needs of students—including how the school looks and feels—the school has earned back its accreditation in just over a year and a half.

Lesli A. Maxwell, Managing Editor contributed to this video.

Video

Classroom Technology Video Teachers, Try This: Digital Literacy Lessons for Elementary Students
Students are encountering technology at an early age. It's important they know how to interact safely with a digital world.
3:07
Photo of teacher helping students with their tablet computers.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
Student Well-Being Video How Urban Schools Bring Lessons to Life Through Gardening
School gardens can connect classroom lessons with the wider world while offering lifelong learnings for students.
3:55
Student Well-Being Video What’s Behind the Political Criticisms of Social-Emotional Learning?
The Trump administration says SEL is being used to veil discrimination. What does that mean for schools?
Students from Suelllen Vesperman’s first grade class dance to the Macarena as they participate in an exercise through the InPACT program at North Elementary School in Birch Run, Mich., on March 2, 2023.
Students from Suelllen Vesperman’s first grade class dance to the Macarena as they participate in an exercise through the InPACT program at North Elementary School in Birch Run, Mich., on March 2, 2023.
Emily Elconin for Education Week
Student Well-Being Video The First Rule of SEL for Older Students? Don’t Be Boring
Middle and high schoolers are a much tougher audience for social-emotional-learning lessons.
2 min read
A high school student introduces herself to her classmates and guests in an AP research class.
A high school student introduces herself to her classmates and guests in an AP research class.
Allison Shelley for All4Ed