What does the future of school actually LOOK LIKE?

Part of my work as an educator -- and co-founder of a production studio called Liminal -- is bearing witness to the myriad ways schools are transforming the lives of young people.

And while there is no single template, there is one common thread to every great school I’ve ever had the privilege of visiting: a recognition that meaning-full relationships between adults and young people are the cornerstone from which everything else must be built.

A year ago in this column, I profiled Norris Academy, an alternative high school in rural Wisconsin whose students are all seeking to recover from significant emotional and institutional trauma.

I was there because of the important work my friends at Education Reimagined are undertaking to support communities across the country that are seeking to create “learner-centered ecosystems” in which schools stop being islands unto themselves, and start weaving the full wealth of a community’s resources -- from its libraries to its parks and civic partners -- in order to offer a more vibrant set of everyday experiences for young people that are relevant, fulfilling, and perhaps even fun.

For Norris, which educates a high number of adjudicated youth — many of whom live in Milwaukee — that meant establishing a satellite campus far from its rural home base that could support those young people when they returned home.

Earlier this week, Education Reimagined released our latest video story of that work.

This is what great schools are capable of.

This is what it means to change the story of how we live and learn.