Quick Facts
- An initiative of the American Honda Education Corporation, a 501(c)3, a nonprofit subsidiary of the American Honda Motor Company
- A full-scholarship high school for students and a low-cost professional development center for adults
- Located in the mountain resort community of Estes Park, Colorado, gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park
- Opened in the fall of 1993
- Admits and graduates students three times a year
- Year-round (three trimesters) and residential
- Purposefully small, capacity of 96 students
Students
- Have not experienced success in traditional academic programs
- Did not expect to graduate from high school
- Are passionate about changing their lives
- Are admitted between the ages of 15 and 17
- Graduate when they can demonstrate mastery of Eagle Rock's requirements
- Choose to enroll; choose to stay
- Come from Colorado (50 percent) and the nation (50 percent)
- Are equally represented, male and female
- Comprise a purposefully diverse community
The Professional Development Center —
Linking Eagle Rock with Educators
- Internships and student teaching
- Preservice and continuing education experiences
- Educational visits (shadowing and seminars with students and staff)
- Workshops, guest speakers, conference presentations
- Sponsored research
- Residencies
- Technical assistance
- Publications and presentations
Focal Points of the Eagle Rock Program and Curriculum
- Creating a community of learners
- A set of guiding principles — "8 themes + 5 expectations = 10 commitments"
- Challenging new students with a wilderness trip
- Personal growth as well as academic growth
- Service, being of "use"
- Standards-based education with high expectations
- Documentation of learning to prove mastery or proficiency
- Active, interactive, interdisciplinary, and project-based experiential learning
- Orientation toward application of learning
- Courses regarded as vehicles for learning and documenting proficiency
- No grades for courses and, therefore, no failure
- Learning in a variety of modes, including times and spaces
- Performance assessment that enhances learning