Evergreen Community Charter School named by Noodle as innovative school

Evergreen Community Charter School in Asheville has taken a fresh approach to education through innovation. Specifically, they have been using a core focus on environmental action in their approach toward teaching and have achieved incredible results in the process.

It is because of Evergreen’s keen focus on innovating their approach to education that they have been selected from among nearly 140,000 schools in the U.S. to receive a Top Innovative Schools award from Noodle.

Today, Noodle announced their inaugural Top Innovative K-12 Schools list, on which Evergreen is included. We wanted to share the good news with you and see if you’d like to explore an article highlighting the great results Evergreen has achieved for the benefit of students in your area.

A robust profile for Evergreen, created by the experts at Noodle, explains its placement on the list. The profile includes how they are innovating, the result of the innovation and why this particular innovation is important to the larger ED space.
 

Noodle, the most comprehensive website for education information and resources, released its inaugural “Innovative Schools” list featuring 41 public, private, and charter K–12 schools that are inspiring students to love learning, and empowering teachers and administrators to create unparalleled educational opportunities.

In creating the list, Noodle set out to identify schools that have moved away from traditional learning environments and realized significant results for their students in the process. While innovation is at the heart of the list, the production of positive, sustainable outcomes based on the school’s objectives also had to be shown.


“This year’s top 41 institutions exemplify new ways of addressing educational challenges and encouraging students to thrive,” said Suzanne Podhurst, Editor-in-Chief of Noodle. “All of the featured schools are making a demonstrable impact on the students they serve — and on the larger education space. At Noodle, we are shining a spotlight on the schools that are redefining education and creating exciting opportunities for their students.”

For instance, schools like the The Young Women’s Leadership School of East Harlem, where 100 percent of students are accepted to college, are empowering students in underserved communities to excel in science and other fields. Others, like STAR School, have gone green, using solar panels and wind generators to generate power. Many employ revolutionary teaching methods, such as flipped classrooms (Clintondale High School) and gamified learning (Quest to Learn). A few have reconceptualized the very idea of a school by creating inspiring learning environments in unexpected places, including within a public library (e3 Civic High).

In addition to their revolutionary approaches, all 41 schools have demonstrated impressive results across a range of categories — beyond test scores alone. Some (Alliance School) have created supportive, bullying-free environments, while others (Interlochen Arts Academy and Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences) graduate accomplished scholar–artists. They all share one feature in common, however: They have created new, aspirational models of what K–12 education could — and should — look like.

“Innovative schools are about opportunities rather than problems, regardless of circumstances,” said John Chubb, president of the National Association of Independent Schools. “Educators who work in innovative schools envision an ideal future and then pioneer approaches to learning, teaching, and community-building that other schools can try out in their own settings. The schools recognized through the Innovative Schools Award show that experimenting and taking calculated risks to serve their students more effectively improves education for all children.”

Each of this year’s top 41 institutions received a plaque from Noodle, along with other materials to showcase their designation as an Innovative School.