This year-long initiative immerses students in the world of aviation, an industry many had never experienced firsthand despite living just miles from Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Through hands-on learning and mentorship, including converting the Price Middle School media center into an hands-on airport and flight simulation, students explored careers across the airline industry while integrating math, science, ELA, and social studies into real-world application.

The final presentations were more than just pitches—they were a reflection of growth. Students showcased skills in public speaking, teamwork, critical thinking, and problem-solving, all while imagining themselves in future careers they may not have previously considered.

Now in its seventh year, the partnership between �ڹϳ����� and Virgin Atlantic continues to open doors and expand possibilities. With support from both Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines, students gain exposure to industry professionals who help guide, mentor, and inspire them along the way.

The setting of the Delta Flight Museum added an extra layer of excitement and authenticity, reinforcing just how close these opportunities are—and how attainable they can be.

It was, without a doubt, a great day for Price Middle School and a powerful reminder of what happens when education, community, and industry come together to invest in the next generation.

At �ڹϳ�����, learning goes beyond textbooks and classrooms. It’s connected to real-world challenges, community partnerships, and scholars’ lived experiences. As the K–12 STEAM Project-Based Learning (PBL) Instructional Coach, Laura Peña-Telfer, PhD, works alongside teachers to design learning experiences that are rigorous, relevant, and deeply engaging. Through PBL, she helps scholars see themselves as innovators, problem solvers, and contributors to their communities. We sat down with Dr. Peña-Telfer to learn more about her role, her passion for PBL, and her vision for its future at PBSA.

As a PBL Instructional Coach, how do you describe your role in helping teachers design learning experiences that connect classroom content to real-world challenges?

My role is to leverage the wealth of knowledge our teachers already bring and support them in making meaningful cross-curricular connections that bring learning to life for scholars. I enjoy serving as a sounding board, drawing on my classroom experience, instructional coaching background, and research experience to support teachers in designing authentic PBL units. I also help connect teachers with community and industry partners so learning is grounded in real-world challenges.

What excites you most about the PBL approach, and how have you seen it transform student engagement or confidence across grade levels?

What excites me most about PBL is its potential to disrupt long-standing opportunity gaps, particularly the underrepresentation of communities of color in STEM fields. PBL creates access to high-quality learning experiences that position scholars as active participants in their learning, recognized as innovators, problem solvers, and knowledge producers.

Research consistently shows that well-designed PBL supports deeper understanding of content, strengthens critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration, and increases engagement by connecting learning to authentic, real-world contexts. I’ve seen PBL affirm scholar identity, build agency, and amplify student voice across grade levels. When implemented with fidelity, scholars demonstrate stronger performance on both traditional and performance-based assessments, retain what they learn, and confidently apply their understanding in new situations. Most importantly, PBL makes learning meaningful and relevant.

�ڹϳ����� partners with many community organizations. How do these partnerships influence or enhance the PBL experiences you help support?

Community partners are an essential component of STEAM and PBL. They bring career expertise into the classroom and offer scholars tangible examples of STEM careers and pathways. These partnerships strengthen PBL by helping scholars see how academic content connects to real professions and real-world problem solving. Exposure to community and industry partners supports inspiration and workforce development, helping scholars envision themselves in future careers and understand the relevance of what they are learning.

When you’re collaborating with teachers, what are the key elements you aim to build into a strong PBL unit, regardless of subject or grade?

I begin by listening to teachers’ ideas, questions, and even their trepidations. From there, we establish clear learning goals and meaningful real-world contexts. Strong PBL units are grounded in content standards while centering collaboration, reflection, and relevance. Across all subjects and grade levels, I focus on including an authentic problem or challenge, opportunities for student voice and choice, and multiple ways for scholars to demonstrate their learning.

Looking ahead, what are your hopes or goals for expanding or deepening PBL across �ڹϳ�����? What impact do you envision for students and the wider community?

Looking ahead, my hope is to deepen and expand PBL across all grade levels so it becomes an integral, shared approach to teaching and learning at PBSA. I want PBL to be understood and valued as a way to build bridges between content areas, between school and the real world, and between scholars’ learning and their lived experiences. When that happens, the impact extends beyond the classroom to families, communities, and future pathways for our scholars.

The feature highlights Mrs. Thomas’ unwavering passion for equipping students with skills that set them up for success beyond school.

what drives her commitment to education—from mentoring fellow educators in project-based learning (PBL) to guiding students in becoming independent, confident, and empowered learners. Her innovative PBL projects, such as a recent exploration of the Atlanta Beltline, exemplify her ability to inspire and engage.

�ڹϳ����� Built Schools has remained two steps ahead with an aggressive, multi-pronged remedial plan.

We began our multi-pronged learning remediation plan last spring as many students began returning to the classroom and are offering a wide range of initiatives and services to address the gaps.

The upcoming year, indeed, the next three years, will be all about academic and social emotional learning (SEL) recovery for our students. Preliminary data shows that academic gaps are significant.

Our recovery strategy focuses on three priorities: added literacy and math intervention practices; highly engaging project-based instruction supported by new Smart Boards in all classrooms; and continued family and student SEL supports included in our Student and Family Support Program.

Small Group Interventions. Research shows that small group interventions—and as much individualized instruction as possible—is effective in enhancing reading and writing skills in young children, especially those from low-income communities. We therefore have invested in the following tools, resources, and practices to ensure our students get additional individualized and small group instruction. This includes:

• adding a 75-minute intervention block to the school day schedule, supported by the addition of 8 intervention parapros;
• increased high dosage tutoring, including an expanded partnership with the Schenck School;
• new Literacy Coordinator and Math Coordinator positions;
• and individualized learning plans for students.

Engaging Project Based Learning Instruction. To improve the quality of our culturally relevant project based instruction, we have purchased state-of-the-art flat screen panels for every classroom, “Smart Boards.” We also added a Technology Instruction Coordinator to provide ongoing professional development to teachers – ensuring that we integrate the Smart Boards into classroom instruction.

SEL Supports. Cultivating strong, positive relationships with students has always been a cornerstone of our support, but after more than a year away from in-person learning, our staff’s ability to meet students’ social, emotional and mental needs has never been more important. We’ve expanded the number of counselors and social workers on-site at our schools and will provide services such as individual/group counseling, behavior support, individual/group skill building, and staff training on trauma-informed care. These supports work to combat issues such as depression, trauma, anxiety, bullying, grief, and Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

�ڹϳ����� has received CARES Act funding as part of the national pandemic recovery program, and we have developed a thoughtful 3-year plan to spend that money in targeted ways. We believe our strategy will both close the gaps and set the stage for continued growth in the long-term.

Months of careful planning has gone into these recovery efforts. We are optimistic that this 3-year plan will support our students in their academic and SEL recovery, as well as our teachers and staff who are working valiantly to help our students achieve their unlimited potential, despite the recent challenges.

“When school buildings closed, parents were worried, teachers were frightened, and students had to experience school in entirely new ways,” says Diona Williams, PBL coordinator for �ڹϳ����� Built Schools. “But our leadership team, teachers, and students persevered by engaging in what we’ve always done: culturally relevant and standards-based instruction. We simply continued with PBL!”

Even during virtual school, teachers challenged students to follow the PBL model: collaborate, communicate, critically think, and be creative. With engaging topics to explore, students tackled issues each quarter that were relevant to their daily experiences.

But one thing that was new? Doing PBL virtually.

“It was a challenge to think through how to accomplish these PBL modules virtually,” says Ms. Williams. “But like everything else this year, teachers and students rose to the occasion. I’m so proud of the creative ways everyone completed their projects.”

During the 2020-21 school year, PBL topics included:

By examining local politics, the pandemic and social justice, students worked together to develop a set of shared school principles, policies and processes to help create a positive school culture–in person and online.

For the first three to four weeks of the school year, or “Quarter Zero,” Price sixth, seventh and eighth graders were given the opportunity to be agents of change within their own school community by creating student handbooks.

“In the past, our wonderful middle school students have expressed frustration about not having a say in the governance and procedures that were enforced at Price,” says Diona Williams, PBSA PBL coordinator. “They didn’t understand why certain rules existed. Price teachers decided what better way to get buy-in from students than by having them research, write, and design their own grade-level student handbooks.

Through project-based learning, students at Thomasville Heights Elementary School, Slater Elementary School, Price Middle School and Carver STEAM Academy frequently explore racial justice and equity and develop real-life solutions to make change in their communities.

“What surprised me the most about our Quarter Zero PBL project was the buy-in from students and how strict the rules they created for themselves were,” says Whitney Thomas, eighth grade mathematics teacher. “Teachers were able to see what Price students truly desired in the school setting, which seems to be a calm but fun learning environment.”

The seventh grade student handbook prioritized empathy and excellence, stating “We will choose to live and work according to principles and not feelings. As 7th graders, we will face challenges, but we will strive to do the right thing, even when it is not the easiest or most popular.”

The principles continue: “With each thought, action or task, we will ask if it contributes to the love and liberation of ourselves and our people. We will love ourselves and our people. It is our responsibility to learn and grow so that we can be leaders in the journey towards liberation.”

“Success comes from mental toughness,” the handbook states. “7th graders have grit and tenacity. We understand that success takes hard work and we are ready to do the work it takes. Excellence is accomplished through deliberate actions done consistently and carefully over time.”

This quarter’s PBL modules were accomplished entirely online. Teachers kept students connected to the projects by encouraging them to study current events and local politics that affected their real lives.

“While we didn’t know exactly how project-based learning would play out within virtual learning, it ended up being an incredibly empowering experience for a lot of our students,” says Ms. Williams. “They were able to connect their work to existing Georgia laws and view their work within the current climate of civil unrest and increasing demands for equity within our society.”

The experience taught them about democracy by giving them the tools and opportunity to have a voice in how they are governed. “From a teacher’s perspective,” says Ms. Williams, “we now understand more than ever just how important it is to establish a culture at the beginning of the school year that embodies student voices.”

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When COVID-19 arrived in Atlanta last spring, our buildings closed abruptly and virtual school was–unexpectedly and quickly–in session.

We made the most of an unprecedented situation. We acted quickly to gather resources with little notice. Educators logged countless hours in front of a webcam to teach and answer questions from students.

But this fall, as we return to another semester of virtual learning, we are prepared with plans and resources to help teachers engage students in new ways remotely.

We’ve improved the way by which we deliver virtual instruction by streamlining our platforms and training our educators to optimize their virtual classroom experiences.

Streamline Platforms

All teachers now use Otus, an all-in-one learning platform. Teachers can post videos, lessons, discussion boards, and correspond with parents.

We will also use the platform to collect data and determine the effectiveness of our instruction. Teachers are able to import various kinds of academic student data into the Otus platform.

Students can upload completed assignments through the platform. Teachers can track students’ progress and monitor who has completed assignments.

More Training

We have provided more training for educators to make virtual learning more attainable and successful, including Google Classroom and the platform Nearpod, which helps teachers make their lessons interactive. They’ve learned how to create engaging lessons with video footage, virtual field trips and interactive content while getting student feedback in real time.

At �ڹϳ�����, we define ourselves as a group of individuals who are committed to racial justice and equity.

We empower students to become change agents who create positive, long-lasting impact in their communities. We do this through authentic and culturally relevant project-based instruction alongside enrichment, a safe and positive climate and culture, and student and family supports.

Through project-based learning, students at Thomasville Heights Elementary School, Slater Elementary School, Price Middle School and Carver STEAM Academy explore racial justice and equity and develop real-life solutions to make change in their communities. Learn more about project-based learning (PBL).

This fall, our PBL projects will be filled with culturally relevant topics to engage and inspire students–even while learning remotely.

Slater Elementary School

Fifth graders will explore how COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the African American community by studying the spread of the coronavirus across demographics and neighborhoods in Atlanta. In a virtual environment, students will create Instagram pages to raise their voices and challenge elected officials to make change.

Thomasville Heights Elementary School

Fourth graders will explore how living in a food desert affects health and wellness and why certain stores and resources aren’t in their neighborhoods. They will advocate city leaders to make changes to their plans to ensure more resources come to their communities. Fifth graders will learn more about their community’s response to COVID-19 by interviewing community members about how they have been impacted by the pandemic. They will work together to create hand sanitizer and masks to help supply low-income neighborhoods with needed safety resources. Students will research and target organizations at the local, state and international levels to donate the products.

Price Middle School

Students at Price will have the opportunity to be agents of change within their own school community. Students will write the first official student handbook for Price by examining local politics and leaders, the pandemic and social justice.

Carver STEAM Academy

Students at Carver STEAM will dive deeper into city planning and zoning in Atlanta by reimagining their own neighborhoods. They will work with city planners to determine what they want to change or add to their communities, such as stores, resources and access to health care. They will advocate for their plans to be adapted by city planners to help influence the future development of their communities.

“There were concerns that while some of the elementary school students might not be dyslexic, some may have dyslexic-like profiles and, as a result, were struggling with learning to read and were perhaps going unidentified,” says Day. “When I got to The Schenck School, the administration was very interested in talking to �ڹϳ����� Built and learning more about the work at THES and Slater.”

In 2017, Day brought The Schenck School’s Head of School, Josh Clark, for a meeting at and tour of Slater Elementary. As a result of that meeting, an official partnership formed between The Schenck School and �ڹϳ����� for Schenck to provide direct reading services to students through The Dyslexia Resource, an outreach program of The Schenck School.

“We started doing work together in January 2018. We called that Year 0. It was supposed to be a planning year, but we went ahead and started working with some students,” says Day. “We brought in some reading remediation specialists and worked with the instructional coaches at Thomasville Heights to identify students who were struggling with reading and began working with them. That was the beginning of the partnership.”

The 2018-2019 school year marked the official first year of the partnership. The Dyslexia Resource brought in three reading specialists to provide reading remediation to 99 students in first, second, third, and fourth grades at Thomasville Heights Elementary.

An app developed by The Hill Learning Center in Durham, NC, allowed remediation specialists to move from a 1:1 or 1:2 specialist to student ratio to a 1:3 ratio. Remediation sessions occurred twice a week and lasted 40 minutes.

The program expanded in the 2019-2020 school year to include three additional remediation specialists and another 99 students at Slater Elementary School. Remediation specialists also saw a specific group of third-grade students at Thomasville Heights for 40-minute sessions, four times a week.

“We had a cohort of children in the 2018-19 school year that struggled to make gains in reading, no matter if they were working with us or with the remediation programs within the building or with their classroom teachers,” says Day. “So, we decided that they needed more time with our remediation specialists. We called it ‘double dosing’ and the kids did quite well.”

The results of the program have been impressive. By spring 2019, scores on an assessment used to show a student’s growth in reading yielded results that equated to approximately two years of reading growth in just one year for those students who received remediation from The Dyslexia Resource reading specialists.

December 2019 assessment data showed that remediation students at Thomasville Heights performed similarly to their peers in first and second grades. Students receiving remediation at Slater outperformed their peers in first, second and third grades.

The outcomes for the group of third grade Thomasville Heights students receiving additional remediation were of particular interest. Based on the mid-year data, students receiving remediation four times per week clearly outperformed both their peers and those students receiving remediation two times per week. Moving forward, these data will be used to determine remediation dosage for students at both Thomasville Heights and Slater.

“One of the lessons learned over these two years is that it’s the relationships that we have within the school building that are most helpful to us,” says Day. “Instructional coaches and teachers have been invaluable in helping us navigate schedules and providing information about behavior management systems in place in the classroom that we mirror in our sessions with students so the expectations are the same.”

These relationships proved imperative to the continuing success of the program as the coronavirus pandemic struck this spring. The program moved to a 1:1 online tutoring model the week of April 13 after the APS spring break. Many sessions took place over the phone when students were unable to access a computer or Chromebook.

“We had to work closely with the leadership staff at both schools to get information on how to contact families,” says Day. “As part of our contingency planning for next year, we are prepared to toggle between the classroom to online much quicker if needed due to our experience this spring.”

Moving forward to next year, the program is expected to expand with a focus on second, third and fourth grade with the potential to continue to work with some fifth-grade students who participated as fourth-graders in the 2019-2020 school year.

When Ayanna Burroughs, a teacher at Thomasville Heights Elementary School (THES), reached out to Tania Herbert, Urban Agriculture Coordinator at The Paideia School, she hoped to learn from Paideia’s thriving farm program so she could start one at THES.

At the same time, Tania was hoping to replicate the program at other schools, particularly in those located in communities experiencing ‘food apartheid’ or food insecurity.

Both educators, located in very different parts of the city–southeast Atlanta and Druid Hills, wanted to encourage students to make change in their communities by learning how to decrease food insecurity through urban farming.

The schools partnered to create a thriving urban farm at THES. Paideia supports the THES Farm through mentorship and a close partnership that involves the sharing of knowledge, seeds, tools, materials and volunteers that enables the two schools to continue to learn and grow together and feed our communities.

“This program is about building bridges,” says Tania. “Without these shared urban farms at our schools, students may not have the opportunity to meet other students and families from different communities. We may not learn how much we have to offer each other, and how much we can gain from friendships with those outside our regular circles and neighborhoods. Now, students see that we’re all in this together.”

The THES/Paideia partnership quickly grew to include the Metro Atlanta Transitional Center, which assists residents completing the last portion of a felony sentence in making successful transitions back into the community through social and employment skills. This center now has its own urban farm to help equip women with skills to help them reintegrate into employment and community life.

“It’s so encouraging that three different communities can come together and grow so much food with the understanding that it’s not for any one of us in particular,” says Tania. “At the women’s transitional center, it’s empowering for them to work while incarcerated toward feeding families they may never meet. At Paideia, our families have been uplifted to serve families who don’t know where their next meal is coming from. And at THES, students are solving their own community’s needs by growing food to feed their own families and neighbors. This model is a great example of a place-based agricultural model- a grassroots effort to grow and feed our families.”

Combined, the three farms grow approximately 5,000 lbs of high quality produce each year. Next year, they are positioned to produce even more as Paideia relocates its urban farm to a larger plot of land in south Atlanta. The new farm will be closer to THES and the women’s center, which will allow the alliance to better support each other.

The organizations distribute their bumper crop of produce in three ways to help feed the community.

First, THES students give teachers and families tokens to “purchase” food from student-run farm stands during the school year. The students harvest, wash and package the food themselves.

Second, the organizations select the very best produce gathered from the three farms and donate it to the Urban Recipe Cooperative, which serves 50 families in the Thomasville Heights community. Next year, the cooperative will serve families in the Slater Elementary School neighborhoods, as well.

Third, fresh produce is donated to Intown Collaborative Ministries, a Saturday morning food pantry that serves 80 families.

“What’s different about our alliance is that we give our very best produce to the communities we serve,” says Tania. “Often, donated produce is old and of poor quality. But we don’t do that. We give our families our best food first because that is what we all should have and we believe it provides more dignity.”

The THES team looked to Paideia’s model to incorporate farming, composting and agency into its curriculum. �ڹϳ����� Built Schools hired Eva Dickerson, a Spelman graduate, THES’ farmer, to run the THES urban farm and support the school curriculum.

At THES, all grades have access to the farm to explore the natural world and for hands-on lessons, and 3rd and 4th graders use the garden as a quarterly project-based learning project on change-making, food insecurity and how to feed the community.

Through the Summer Farm Apprenticeship program, Carver STEAM Academy students and high school students in Paideia’s Urban Agriculture Program are paid to grow and learn together at both school farms, while accumulating agricultural skills and supporting families who need food during the summer. This opportunity provides meaningful paid employment and allows students to learn different farming systems.

“This partnership forms an unlikely alliance between a private school, a Title 1 school, and a women’s transitional center,” says Tania. “Three organizations that may not have normally come together, but when united, we formed a grassroots movement that benefits everyone involved and grows an abundance of food for underserved communities with food insecurity.”

Watch THES Farm in Action