PAC Updates & More Financial Updates:

● 2012 to date, NHS has raised a total of $240,000. ● Recently, the NEXT Innovation Center CEO’s had 24 companies contribute

$16,285.00 toward opening NEXT High School; including a $6,000 contribution from BB&T.

● NEXT High School will receive an average of $6900 per student from the SC Dept. of Education through the South Carolina Public Charter School District beginning July 15, 2015. This money is committed through our approved charter contract with the state.

● NHS has been awarded $283,000 in total from the Federal P&I Grant to be used to the development of the school. The next round of $125,000 will be available July 2015.

Faculty Updates:

● NHS has just announced its 1st Candidate Forum & Workshop Saturday, Jan. 31st. ○ Approx. 30 potential Faculty and Staff members have been invited through an

interactive workshop that will serve in some fashion as a “screening” process. ○ The PAC Faculty Committee is invited to help plan & execute the workshops

in coordination with Diana Laufenburg. ○ We would like to have the PAC Faculty Committee join us Friday the 30th at

5PM to walk through the Saturday plans with Diana. Location TBD. ● The “Founding” Faculty recommendations would then be presented to the PAC and

SAC shortly after for feedback / input. ○ At minimum, the Founding Faculty will consist of:

■ 1 English ■ 1 Math ■ 1 Science ■ 1 Social Studies ■ 1 Counselor ■ 1 Chief Support Officer (Office Admin)

● Founding Faculty offers will be negotiated as soon as possible--following references, background checks, etc..

● (Very) Important Note: While the PAC is being asked to assume a role in the upfront formation of the Founding Faculty, future staffing decisions will largely be made by the faculty themselves with PAC and SAC input as appropriate. We are asking the PAC to not have an expectation to participate in future hiring decisions outside of recruiting and referral efforts. This is done in order to maintain a healthy, professional faculty culture.

● Founding Faculty will be begin meeting at least 2 weekends a month through the rest of the school year, and then more full-time over the summer in order to fully flesh out the curriculum framework being put in place for the school.

Facility Updates

● After ironing out some final details, a draft lease is currently in place for 2000 Wade Hampton Blvd, Building #2, Greenville, SC 29615.

● JSD Architects is currently finalizing a Capital Budget for the needed improvements to the space to insure it’s readiness by August 2015.

Marketing Schedule

● NHS has retained the 5W Media Solutions to draft and deliver the 2015 media/marketing plan.

● Upcoming dates: ○ January 27th: Your Carolina Appearance by Zach ○ January 31st: Faculty Forum/Interactive Screening ○ February 19th: CEO Announcement / UBJ Feature on NHS ○ February 21st: SAC Meeting ○ February 27th: Founding Faculty Announcement ○ March 2nd: Enrollment Campaign Launched / Outdoor Advertisement ○ March: Parent Magazine Article ○ March: Facility Groundbreaking ○ April: iMagine Upstate Week

Curriculum Related Questions: We have yet to hear any answers regarding what type & level of courses will be offered (ex. foreign languages, honors courses, High School Credit from Middle School work, college credit.. )?

● Yes. In reality, NEXT High School will be offering MORE courses and other unique credit-earning opportunities than found in traditional high school environments.

● The school’s graduation requirements exceed the State’s minimum requirements, and students will be assured they can meet any requirements needed for admission to any college they wish to apply.

● As we continue to monitor the growing and changing requirements at various colleges, NHS will ensure we are aligned to prepare students to meet any new or evolving admissions expectations.

● NHS is in the early stages of working through matriculation options through Clemson University and Greenville Technical College so that NHS students can pursue concurrent enrollment credit for post-secondary courses.

● Also, NHS plans to offer Mandarin (Chinese), Computer Programming, and immersion language programs to meet global language credit requirements.

How will NEXT HS accommodate students who have already completed some High School Courses?

● NHS will recognize high school level credits earned prior to enrolling. These credits would count towards meeting our graduation requirements, but may not necessarily allow entering students to bypass required courses we expect all students to experience. Additionally, the school’s learning framework is designed to empower students who have proven to be able to handle the responsibility to be able to pursue self-guided independent studies and projects to earn additional credits at any time.

What is that education going to be? That is what makes me nervous…the details will work themselves out. I am concerned about the meat of the education because that's what our kids will carry with them.

● Please remember, NHS is built on the premise that Wisdom > Knowledge. In other words, NHS believes that a student’s inquiry, creativity, passion, and interests are the driving force of their education; not a prescribed static list of content requirements. We too are very concerned what our young people will carry with them. For example, will they carry with them a knowledge of science or a passion for science? NHS is a place for young people interested in the purposeful application of knowledge and skills in order that they may carry those with them the rest of their lives.

● And yes, when schools focus on preparing young people for life through contextualized and applied learning, the inquiry element naturally leads to more active engagement and deeper and more authentic understanding of the content. In

order to do accomplish this, NHS faculty will be routinely customizing curriculum in an effort to personalize it in an iterative fashion based on individual student need.

● NHS does not subscribe to an assembly line “one size fits all” structure so that will not be readily found or provided at NHS. Instead, what we anticipate are engaged, passionate, and curious students in abundance who know how to think, and with that know how to learn .

As NEXT finalizes it’s curriculum, will NEXT then be creating each class to support that curriculum, or is there already a set of classes that it will be pulling from, possibly from another organization and/or school? Or will NEXT be creating its own set of classes? And, if so, who is doing that and when?

● NHS will have a series of interdisciplinary projects or problem-based challenges, often with connected content labs needed to successfully complete the projects. Also offered will be a creative and unique array of in-depth topic-focused college-oriented and structured learning seminars.

● NHS will be working in a much larger network of peer and partner schools along with education experts from around the country to enhance our curriculum and learning framework. Please visit our “Research & Inspiration” page on our website for more information.

Will Honors and AP courses be available?

● While it is likely that NHS will not formally partner with the national corporation that offers their heavily prescribed and rote-level Advanced Placement courses, we will always support students who wish to independently pursue taking one or more of those options. Instead, we will be providing a series of faculty-designed Advanced Topics courses that align with our higher-order thinking values. Beyond these AT opportunities will be several other rich avenues that offer our students honor-worthy challenges to distinguish themselves.

I am (still) very curious what the curriculum will look like. Will they only be putting out courses for 9th grade, or will they scope out all 4 years of classes? What classes will be offered? What labs? What projects? What will “core” classes look like - English, Math, Science, History? When will parents/students be able to see this; specifically will it be available before we need to accept enrollment at the school? Is there a scope for how many classes a child is required to take in each subject per SC curriculum standards vs. NEXT’s standards? I’ve heard colleges look for so many years of Math, Foreign Language, etc. which easily differs from what is required by a regular high school, and I would like to ensure that my child would meet those standards (and not just be told that he would but to be able to see that sketched out in a 4-yr plan). Obviously, based on my child’s interest that could change year, to year, but it would be nice to know of a general plan of action.

● A detailed Compendium (plan of actions along with narratives describing NHS values and philosophies) will be available later this spring once the founding faculty has had a chance to review and edit for publication.

Faculty Related Questions: The most pressing one to me is – faculty. Who will they be and will we have enough money to pay them well enough to make sure they stay?

● Yes. NHS has spent 3+ years raising the funds to recruit and support the payroll of founding faculty.

I’d like to know more about the teachers that will be hired… Will they be familiar with project-based/concept-based learning? Will they design their own classes or will they be given specific coursework to follow?

● Yes. NHS has recruited and been working through top tier certified applicants with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.

● For example, our of the initial 30+ faculty candidates identified, all but 4 have their Masters or Doctorate in their field of expertise. Over half have experience in project based learning environments.

When will the faculty and principal be picked?

● Founding Faculty will be announced by February 27th at this point. Miscellaneous Questions: I am concerned about transportation, as we live in Fountain Inn, this could make or break our going to Next.

● NHS is working to announce its rideshare/carpool platform that should allow easy coordination with other families at a distance from its first 3 year location.

What do you do if your child will be entering 11th grade this coming year?

● Unfortunately, we are unable to accept a rising 11th grade student in the fall 2015. Are they asking the parents for the start up money?

● No. We have approached the parents with a need to help us build a school worthy of the vision and their sons/daughters involved. The NHS Board of Directors has and will continue to raise any funding required to open the school. Please contact the PAC Finance Committee for more information on this and the opportunity presented to get involved.

Will the school be ready by the fall?

● Unequivocally, yes.

Will there be enough student enrolled to open in August? ● Yes, at this time NHS has enough students enrolled to open in August 2015.