We are Crew, not Passengers!
At New Village Academy, no one flies under the radar. Almost everyone knows your name, and our school is organized into “Crews” – groups of 14 students with one teacher – who meet every day for 45 minutes, and for the entire morning on Wednesdays (until students launch into Wednesday internships). Each Crew stays together for all four years of high school, so they know each other incredibly well. Students often describe Crew as their “School Family.”
Teens need dedicated time and support to learn to be their best selves, and Crew’s primary purpose is just that. Circle discussions, mindfulness practices, reflective journaling, and outdoor adventure experiences all help students learn about who they are and how they relate to others. Building a sense of safety and belonging is critical for teens to feel comfortable being themselves. That feeling can be difficult to find in a 2000-student traditional high school!
Crew is also a time for academic planning and reflection – students create, critique, and revise their portfolios, track and reflect on their short and long-term Navigation Plans, and meet one-on-one with their Crew Advisor to make sure they are meeting their own goals for success. Crew also builds in direct academic learning – engaging with poetry and other readings, doing arts and STEM projects, and building academic vocabulary.
On Wednesdays, Crews that aren’t yet in internships dig deep into a project at school or take to the City together, volunteering, exploring, and building the skills that will help them be ready for independent internships. We have partnerships with Maryland Hall, Bates Boys and Girls Club, Anne Arundel Community College, Arundel Rivers Federation, the Annapolis City Government, Anne Arundel Medical Center, and more, so students can job shadow, learning about a variety of careers, perfect their swimming, save the Bay, create radio shows, play sports, build puppets, and even try a low ropes course challenge together!
Crew Advisors work to ensure each of their 14 students is getting the support and services they need to thrive in school, in internships, in their personal lives, and in achieving their future goals. Long-term studies of graduates at other Big Picture Learning schools show that 96% of students are still in touch with their Crew Advisors more than 2 years after graduation. Crew is the glue that connects families to our school community and binds students to one another, building friendships across identity groups, holding students accountable to “showing up” and “bringing their heart” socially and academically, and building a network of support and belonging that continues long past high school.
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