Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/619098
instrumental music. "ey are receptive, responsive and creative. ey know how to think for themselves." Performances take place in a 400-seat, fully modern theater with a "tech ledge" walkway that connects the lighting cat- walks directly with the control booth. e theater also has acoustic drapes, dressing rooms and a makeup room. "ere are so many opportunities to be creative and to be yourself," says Wyatt Ellis, a junior. "at's what I like about the school." " They treat you like an adult, and I appre ci at e that," say s Antonio L e e, a junior. "For the most part, we are indepen- dent learners." An example of that is "Access Period" on Wednesdays, when students can go anyw here they choose and are free to seek help from teachers and make up missing assignments. Most students act responsibly, Vu says. "Of course, there are times they do not make the best choices with the freedom they're given. But we hope they learn from those choices so they can make better decisions in the future." A P L A C E W H E R E T H I N G S FLOW English and social studies are com- bined into humanities classes much like at college, to offer students a broader under- standing of language, history and cultures. Humanities classes are large, double-pe- riod classes, co-taught by an English teacher and a social studies t each er. Th e idea i s that subjects are not separated in th e real w orl d; th e y f low together, so literacy is entwined with history. Curricular crossover extends elsewhere, too. For example, it's not unusual for the culinar y arts teacher to collaborate with a science teacher on assign- m e n t s d e m o n st ra t i n g b o t h scientific theories and deliciousness. e school has adopted an integrated math approach. Students take Math 1, Math 2 and Math 3, with classes blending algebra, geometry and statistics all three years, instead of the usual route of Algebra 1, Geometry and Alge- bra 2. Again, it allows students to see how math concepts f low together. e school also has an unorth- odox grading system. In ever y class, students are evaluated on collaboration , agency grow th mindset, communication, content knowl- edge and critical thinking skills. "Sixty-five percent of students will even- tually work in jobs that don't exist today," Vu says. " Therefore, instead of training them for careers, we teach them skills that can be applied to any job." Stud ent s "are a sked n ot only to b e responsible for their own learning, but for other students' learning," says instruc- tional coach and business teacher Andrew Goff. "ey are encouraged to see them- selves as a community of learners, and it's us and not just me in this mindset." The ability to think outside th e b ox , e n c o u ra ge c r it i c a l thinking, blend together sub- ject matter, and incorporate PBL has made th e t each ers' shift to the Common Core not such a big deal, says Goff. "We definitely had a jump on the transition." e student body is diverse: 45 percent are white; 31 per- c e n t F i l i p i n o ; 1 2 p e r c e n t African American or black; 7 percent Asian; and overlapping the other categories, 36 percent are Hispanic or Latino. Students we spoke with say that ACHS is inclusive, and that almost every- one finds a way to fit in, which is largely Andrew Goff Clockwise from top left: English and theater teacher Summer Heartt onstage with students; sheep graze near American Canyon's solar pan- els; teachers work together in one of their two daily prep periods; an empowerment exercise in teacher Nhu-Y Vu's class where students throw paper airplanes with their nondominant hand. 33 December 2015 / January 2016