Please refer to this document for polices regarding grading and assessment during Connected Learning at GCE Lab School.
Student and Family Health Guide
Please refer to this guide for staying healthy and how to communicate issues concerning health with GCE Lab School.
Earning Civic Engagement Credits during Connected Learning
Please refer to this guide for earning and submitting Civic Engagement credits for the spring term.
Earning Health & Wellness Credits during Connected Learning
Please refer to this guide for earning and submitting Health & Wellness credits for the spring term.
Education Will Endure: Our First Student Presentations in the Days of Distance Learning
Shortly after we closed our campus for COVID-19, our learning community came together to design an online version of Final Presentations, where ordinarily, students demonstrate what they’ve learned. It was awesome.
You can help support our innovative high school as we step boldly into a changing world.
Winter Term Final Presentations now Online
If you missed our first-ever totally virtual Final Presentations live, it’s now available to watch the recordings. Check out how our amazing students embraced a new experience and explore ideas of significance through guiding questions, such as:
- What do my dreams say about who I am?
- What is the impact of legislation intended to curb climate change?
- How do ideas from the past affect us today?
- What is the future of renewable energy?
- How meaningful are we?
- How can questions shape the world?
- What is an epidemic and how do we prevent one?
- How can information act like a disease?
- How do misconceptions about mental disorders develop?
- Who defines what information is too sensitive for the general public?
…and more!
Measured Daylight: GCE Students Map an Illuminated Future
In the spirit of real-world learning, two students were on-site to audit available daylight on the third floor of the Randolph Street location we are pursuing for the new home of fGCE Lab School. Using a photometer to measure the intensity of light, a tape measure to identify points of fall off, and a camera to record visual contexts, they created a map to identify locations optimal for classrooms in the 16,000 sq. ft. floor plan. Architects and general contractors were also on-site, giving students first-person insight to how their work and perspective impacts our campus design project.
Rock On! 4th Annual GCE Fundraiser was a Hit!
A most epic night, last Friday’s 4th Annual GCE Fundraiser had it all; a mouthwatering spread, totally killer auction and raffle prizes, poetry performances from GCE’s LTAB team, live music from Chris Corsale, an unforgettable performance from Nordic Thunder, and a brilliant community raising money to support students at GCE, where a real-world high school education prepares them for their futures through collaboration and compassion across diverse communities.
We raised over $11,000 to support our mission to deliver dynamic, relevant, and real-world learning experiences to a diverse student body!
A very special thank you to all of our event sponsors:
Field Experience A Test of Endurance
Seniors in Endurance are investigating the journeys of endurance of historical fictional and non-fictional heroes. They are tasked with answering the guiding question, How do you endure mental and physical challenges? by actually facing enduring tests. As a part of this investigation, the students embarked on a transformative journey within themselves with the help of Preston Klik, who demonstrated instruments used for sound meditation and led the meditation for the group.
Field Experiences: We Experience the World
On Wednesday, October 17th, we invited field experience partners to join us for breakfast so we can say thank you for being a partner in education. It meant so much to us to open up our space, for a change, and to share our hopes for the field experience program. The work we do to impart the importance of real-world learning is brought to life with the partneships we cultivate and foster with organizations, companies, and individuals dedicated to providing purposeful and relevant edcuation to students.
Photo Gallery Home Run! 3rd Annual GCE Fun’raiser was a Great Success
An incredible night, last Friday’s 3rd Annual GCE Fun’raiser had it all; pizza, hot dogs, an auction, raffle, poetry, live music, Cracker Jack, and a brilliant community raising money for GCE’s food program.
We were able to raise over $10,000 for the food program — that’s 5 months of food service for the entire school!
Help GCE Close the Opportunity Gap for High School Students in Chicago
It’s Live!
We just launched our IndieGoGo campaign to fund scholarships in support of our 50/50 model
Our 50/50 model ensures that 50% of our students receive need-based scholarships to attend GCE. This diverse learning environment unites students and communities across Chicago with amazing success. Over the past five years, our graduates have been awarded an average of $100,000 each in merit-based college scholarships.
Go read about GCE on DNA Info right now!
We’re always thrilled to share our story with the community and ecstatic when the community becomes part of our voice. On Tuesday, DNA Info published an article in the Lincoln Park & Old Town, Education section about our incredible new facility and real-world learning model. Go read it on dnainfo.com right now!
Small Private High School Expands,
Unveils New Facility In Lincoln Park
The Dawn of a New Day
Dear GCE Students & Families,
I’m grateful and honored to write this letter to you. It is a testament to the evolution of GCE Lab School and our commitment toward each of you and the school’s future. I’ve been blessed with the chance to pursue my dream, to see a vision into reality. Every day for the past six years this has been made possible through the presence, purpose, and potential of our students, families, staff and board.
May 30, 2016, was officially my last day as Head of School. Today I report to duty in support of Kate Klein, our new Head of School. Oh fret not, I’ll remain engaged with GCE Lab School, and certainly, GCE will always be part of me. My new role with GCE is to provide strategic support, fidelity to the model and its purpose, to drive breakthroughs in learning & teaching, and to continue to aid our team in providing every possible opportunity for our students. Beyond GCE, I will use the lessons learned to help public and charter schools build the GCE model within their systems, to extend the reach of our model so that more students have experiences like ours.
If you’ve ever talked “leadership” with me, then you know what our soon-to-graduate seniors have learned in their Entrepreneurship class: first, I believe that leaders of organizations must change; second, I design organizations for others to run beyond me. We’ve been steadily working toward these two realities. We are ready for GCE Lab School v.2.0. The model exists; YOU are proof of concept. You, students and staff in particular, make GCE Lab School what it is, and more importantly, what it will become.
Over the past 6 years, your kids have become ours, each other’s, and mine. From the core of my being I thank you for believing in the Global Citizenship Experience, for giving me a chance to practice what I preach, and above all else, I thank you for trusting me.
Sincerely,
Eric Davis
GCE Lab School Founder
Global Learning Models Co-Founder & Chief Learning Officer
Field Experience Sound Meditation: A Journey Within
Seniors embarked on a transformative journey within themselves with the help of Preston Klik, who demonstrated instruments used for sound meditation and led the meditation for the group.
Photo Gallery GCE Students Raise Money for Special Olympics at Polar Plunge
A group of brave students and staff plunged into the brumal waters at North Avenue Beach to raise money for Special Olympics Chicago.
We’re happy to report zero cases of hypothermia and $1,590 raised for Special Olympics.
Join Our Team
GCE Lab School and GLM Education are seeking candidates for four positions:
Photo Gallery 2015 Graduation & Final Presentations
GCE staff and students invite you to join us for 2015 Graduation & Spring Term Final Presentations at Goodman Theatre on June 4th, from noon-2pm.
Experience what our students have been learning this term, and join us in seeing our 2015 graduates off into their next adventures.
Many thanks to Goodman Theatre for their partnership and support as well as Amazing Edibles for food and beverage.
| RSVP for Spring Term Final Presentations & Graduation |
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The Future is Not Satisfied By Today’s Education
We Are Not Satisfied.
Download the presentation here
Eric Davis, founder of GCE Lab School, emboldens students and families by affirming GCE’s commitment to an educational model that equips students to thrive in today’s complex world through an innovative approach to education—one that hones relevant skills, incorporates adaptive technologies, and embraces the inspiration and practicality of real-world learning.
GCE Lab School is a private high school located in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. Our inquiry and project-based curriculum cultivates global citizens through experiential learning.
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Summer Immersion Courses for Creative and Independent Thinkers
With temperatures already dropping into the teens, let’s dream on warmer weather and summer plans.
Please consider GCE’s Summer Immersion courses for rising 7th-12th grade students. Specifically, we aim to enroll students who are creative and independent thinkers, who care about learning in and beyond school, and who want to experience a vibrant and experiential summer program.
See below for more information on Summer Immersion, and be sure to RSVP for Elective Term Final Presentations on January 22, 2015.
RSVP for Elective Term Final Presentations Here!
Summer Immersion
Are you interested in learning about issues that are important to you? Would you like to work with passionate teachers and students from around Chicago? Pre-register for one of GCE’s Summer Immersion courses.
Participants sample our Model for Learning — purpose driven, integrated curriculum, differentiated instruction, field experience, digital portfolios, and a focus on global citizenship. For rising freshmen and transfer students, the Summer Immersion is a great way to infuse your learning experience with a jolt of purpose and inspiration and to determine if GCE Lab School is an appropriate high school choice.
Pre-register for a Summer Immersion course
Elective Term Final Presentations:
January 22, 2015
Plan ahead and mark your calendar to attend Final Presentations on January 22nd, 2-3pm, at Thalia Hall in Pilsen. Experience our unique Elective Term courses through the lens of our students, who will guide us through the courses they study and the transformation their lives undergo in a matter of weeks.
At Elective Term Final Presentations, students will showcase their learnings from courses including Ollywood, FARE, Five Faces, and Stage Chemistry. Here are some brief descriptions of the courses:
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Ollywood focuses on film critique through the study of pre-, post- and production.
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FARE/Eatalian approaches Italian language and culture through the lens of what we eat.
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Five Faces of Genius brings Firemark’s original content to GCE, calling on students to discover and reveal their creative genius.
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Designed in partnership with the Goodman Theatre, Stage Chemistry features the STEAM magician’s tools that are used to create theater.
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Online Installations
A Population Online Installation
Check out GCE Voices
GCE Voices (our school blog) is a series of “Online Installations” which artistically reveals student work in interactive ways. We hope you dive into the installations and feel inspired by our motto: “Reinvent Possibility.”