The Road to Six Years of Embark
As we enter our sixth year supporting learners to courageously inquire, engage, and discover a sense of self, we’re reflecting on the journey that has paved the way.
“It’s audacious. It’s amazing. It’s something that I never thought I would see before, and it’s something I think I love.”
This is how one of our now seventh-grade learners responded when asked to finish the sentence “Embark is . . “
For this learner, middle school is audacious.
For this learner, middle school is amazing.
For this learner, middle school is surprising and unexpected.
For this learner, middle school is something to love.
Take a dive into our micro-middle school through the lens of our learners, educators, alumni, and parents.
Our Director of Programs, Brian Hyosaka, often asks those new to our micro-middle school to reflect on their own middle school experience. Regardless of the audience or the setting, the reactions tend to remain pretty universal: shudders, sighs, and shaking heads at the recollection of awkward years spent navigating the holding pen of middle school.
We are no strangers to this lived experience and these shared memories. Which is why when we juxtapose our collective middle school memories with our opening quote from an Embark learner, we are affirmed in one of the steadfast beliefs that anchors our work:
Middle schoolers are capable of a whole hell of a lot if that is the expectation.
As we enter our sixth year supporting learners to courageously inquire, engage, and discover a sense of self, we are tapping into one of our core competencies - reflection - about the road that led us to where we are today. It hasn’t always been smooth or without its challenges, but we have come to learn the moments of turbulence and challenge are often where the richest learning lies.
Take a dive into our origin story, and the journey that has paved the way for middle school to be something to love.
What is Embark Education?
At Embark Education, we inspire what is possible in education by supporting learners of all ages to courageously inquire, engage, and discover a sense of self.
We serve youth learners through our embedded, integrated, learner-centered micro-middle school. Our micro-school is embedded in Pinwheel Coffee, a small business in North Denver that specializes in house-made chai and a warmly-welcoming, community-oriented environment. Each year, our school serves approximately 30 sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade learners. Embark is an independent, tuition-free school financially supported by the businesses’ profits and grants from several generous funders.
Our micro-middle school is grounded in authentic learning experiences and radical trust. One thing that was abundantly clear after our inaugural year serving youth learners for the 2019-2020 school year? Not only were other educators curious about Embark, but also, they were seeking the same type of authentic learning experiences and the radical trust that we were cultivating for our students. Our adult learning work took root in 2020 with our Iterative Space Residency, before blossoming into a full suite of offerings designed to give education professionals the time, space, trust, and resources to surface their brilliance.
In short, Embark is an organization dedicated to the unabashed exploration of what is possible in education.
How did Embark come to be?
The original vision for the school was rooted in Montessori Adolescent theory:
“Because adolescents are in a special stage of life, on the threshold of adulthood, the environment should reflect all aspects of adult life and provide opportunities not only to pursue academic interests but also to participate in real adult practical work in a social setting as close to a real society as possible. Through experiences of everyday life and its responsibilities, the adolescents will practice what it takes to become a contributing member of a wider society.”
Historically, Montessori’s vision for adolescent learning has often occurred in rural farm-based environments. Brian Sense, Embark’s founding visionary, sought to provide learners with similar real-world lessons in an urban environment. So, rather than embedding a school within a farm, he established a full-functioning business in the heart of Denver. Pinwheel Coffee is managed and staffed by paid adults, holds regular business hours throughout the calendar year, and has cultivated large and loyal customer bases. It functions exactly like any other business, with a few key differences:
Pinwheel Coffee, which predates Embark, opened in 2017 in partnership with a local Montessori High School. Through several rich learnings, the decision was made to pivot from a part-time partnership with the high school to a full-time partnership with Embark.
The school is physically embedded within the shop, meaning learners constantly learn, work, and meet in the shop itself. While there are a few school-only spaces, these are also physically connected to the business.
During school hours, learners can often be found working alongside adult staff in the shop, pulling espresso shots for Pinwheel customers.
Learners take on large-scale projects that critically support the shop’s daily functioning. For example, learners design Pinwheel’s seasonal drink menu - researching and experimenting with recipes, sourcing ingredients from local vendors, developing pricing and profit projections, conducting consumer research, and designing a marketing campaign.
How is learning grounded at Embark?
While the initial vision for Embark sprung from the Montessori tradition, its founders quickly decided that tying Embark to one educational vision was too limiting. They recognized brilliance in several pedagogies, such as expeditionary learning, Montessori, and project-based learning. Instead of aligning Embark directly with one of these traditions, Miguel Gonzalez, Embark’s founding Head of School, looked for overlapping areas between them. He found several shared principles appealing, such as:
Learning is an undertaking designed for the whole child. It supports learners' academic growth and the discovery of a strong sense of self.
Learning is embedded in real-world environments where learners apply knowledge and skills as they engage with authentic tasks and challenges, and
Cross-grade level and integrated content instruction support learners where they are on their continuum of learning rather than delivering content based on their birthdate.
Borrowing from these traditions, Embark settled on three design pillars, which its founders used as the framework to design the school and its approach to learning.
Learner-centered Education
We are a learner-centered school in which learners can capitalize on their strengths while also receiving the guidance needed to meet their academic, social, and emotional needs. Learners are the heart of our school. Each learner is unique, and they are co-creators in their learning experience rather than passive vessels to be filled with knowledge. Learning opportunities shift with developmental, social, and competency needs, as well as learners' interests and academic passions. To learn more about our learner-centered practices, check out these pieces:
Embedded Education
Learning at Embark is embedded into a North Denver business: Pinwheel Coffee. This authentic environment allows learners to ground their academics in real-world situations and to apply their knowledge to address real-time shop needs. Rather than simply learning about the history of European imperialism as a static historical concept, learners study imperialism’s impacts on the coffee-producing countries of Ethiopia and Guatemala. This enables them to better understand each country’s socio-economic landscape and provide expert counsel when Pinwheel Coffee sources its next order of beans. By embedding our learning in real-world concerns, Embark learners are never left asking, “Why am I learning this?” To learn more about our embedded practices, check out these pieces:
Integrated Education
Our learners benefit from a truly integrated curriculum in which math, english, science, and history are artfully woven together so that no content or skill is learned in isolation. For example, learners explored the history of different marginalized groups supporting Pinwheel Coffee in being more socially conscious when purchasing merchandise. They analyzed sales data to understand where there were opportunities for growth in the business, researched LGBTQ+ and BIPOC-owned businesses, and pitched their plans to Pinwheel’s leadership. Once given the thumbs up, learners developed relationships with those businesses to sell their products in the shop. Nowhere in this description is a content area mentioned, but if you look closely, you’ll see history, math, and english were core to students’ learning. To learn more about our integrated practices, check out these blog pieces:
From Where We’ve Been to Where We’re Going
Moving through our learning spaces in the few weeks since school started, we can feel the past that paved the way for us just as palpably as we can feel the future ahead of us.
We are entering our sixth year with so many rich, lived, earnings accrued over the years - not all of them easy, but all of them serving their purpose of propelling us forward.
We are entering our sixth year with a truly remarkable team of educators, leaders, and learners who push us and inspire us to be thinking ever bigger and bolder.
We are entering our sixth year driven and dedicated to the unabashed exploration of the limitless possibilities of learner-centered education.
Join us on the journey of exploring what’s possible! From our Embedded Learning Experience to consulting, we have several opportunities to learn from and connect with an amazing community of innovators pushing the boundaries in education.