It’s Big Cheese time! Welcome to our annual (lighthearted) campaign that helps us lead our amazing, ambitious high school students reach their potential. We’re investing in people The Big Cheese is not just about raising money — it’s about making a real impact. But how do we do that? Earlier this fall, our families hosted…
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What’s the purpose of school? What words do teenagers often use to describe learning at school? For many students, the school experience checks way too many of those boxes. Ever wonder why that is? Is it just inevitable? The rise of achievement-oriented education We think the problem has to do with what we’ve come to…
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Your senior year is a great time to be in high school! Will you coast through the finish line, or will you make the most of the time you have left? Dr. Christina Swan (admissions, sciences) and Craig Doerksen (director, humanities) recently had a chat about how Waterloo empowers seniors to get a head start…
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Academic rigor in high school is often touted as a selling point for families and an indicator of future success for students. But what does a rigorous curriculum really mean? Is an “academically rigorous” curriculum really the best way to help students succeed? To help unpack this idea, we captured a conversation between Dr. Christina…
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Exciting news from Waterloo School! We had a great time at this year’s Regional Austin Energy State Science Fair, bringing home some big wins. Elizabeth Everston won 1st in her category, Engineering Mechanics. We also have a 5th place winner in an alternate category, Cordelia Bryant! Please join us in congratulating our students. We are so…
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Are you curious about what it’s like to experience the capstone Junior Project here at Waterloo School? In their third year, Waterloo students take on the exciting task of completing a Junior Project. This is a project that showcases each student’s unique interests and skills developed during their time at Waterloo and helps colleges see…
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This week I watched our students argue in court over 100 million dollars worth of stolen artwork and a museum’s allegedly fraudulent insurance claim. The judge was a real Texas judge. The courtroom was a real (Zoom) courtroom. But it wasn’t a real trial. In fact, it was a Mock Trial, and the students in…
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“I hate you, Mr. Doerksen.” When spoken by a student to a teacher, those words can go in a lot of different directions! Not all the possibilities are as bad as they seem. The student’s squinting eyes and sly grin looking past her classmates down the the table to where I sat suggested her meaning…
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I was in Atlanta recently at an education conference and a colleague who I’d not seen since we had started Waterloo wanted an update on how we were doing. Being an educator he asked an important question, “How do you know what you are doing is working?” So I shared with him one of the…
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The pandemic has disrupted a lot, right? A lot in the workplace, and a lot in schools. And, when things get stirred up, we notice status quo features of life, school, or work we had not seen before. They were always there, but once we see them in the light, we realize—that’s not a feature, that’s a…
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