What Redesign Is
Organized around how adolescents learn.
Secondary school redesign helps middle and high schools do that, so far more young people are known, challenged, supported, and prepared to thrive.
Why it matters
Why adolescence, why now?
Science of learning
Adolescence is a uniquely formative period, when young people form their identities, seek purpose and belonging, build relationships, develop their capacity for complex thinking, and look for ways to contribute. Too often, middle and high school does not meet these needs: fragmented schedules, limited agency, and disconnected learning leave students disengaged and uncertain about their futures.
Building on California’s expertise
California has not been standing still. For more than two decades, communities across the state have led and learned in secondary school redesign, building evidence and promising practices and listening closely to what helps adolescents thrive. We now stand together as a network of schools, districts, and partners with a common goal, and at a time of rapid change in technology, work, and society, we are poised to build on that foundation and go further, faster.
Aligning school to our rapidly changing world
The opportunity is to expand what works so that many more young people experience the engaging, rigorous, relevant, and integrated learning that builds the knowledge, durable skills, and purpose to thrive in college, career, and life, because California needs the talent of every young person to move us forward.
The definition
Our shared definition
Leaders across 14 networks shaped this definition together. It reflects real convergence across very different contexts.
Secondary school redesign is an ongoing, research-informed process of reimagining outcomes and evolving learning experiences in middle and high schools, with adolescents at the center and a shared vision co-designed with students, educators, families, and communities. It moves beyond isolated programs or practices to make coordinated changes in how schools and districts organize time, relationships, and structures, creating coherent, lasting change that builds on community strengths and continually adapts to changing needs, opportunities, and conditions.
The elements
The elements of redesign
Redesign is not a single reform. It’s a continuous process built on connected shifts that reinforce one another. Across redesigned schools, five elements show up again and again.
Relationships come first
Every student is known well by at least one adult. Small learning communities and advisories work like family groups, so belonging is built in by design.
Hillsdale High uses Kid Talk structures to make sure every student is known.
Learning goes deeper
Students take on real problems and build durable skills through projects, pathways, and internships tied to the world beyond school.
Pacific High’s biomedical pathway puts students in mock exam rooms and community clinics.
Support is personalized
Schools meet students where they are, with proactive health, mental health, technology, and academic supports.
Growth is measured in holistic ways
Students present and defend real work before audiences of educators, families, and community members.
Structures are built to last
Collaboration time, teacher teams, and leadership are designed into the school day. District offices shift from compliance to enabling the work, so it can spread and sustain.
Internationals Network’s innovative staffing model, a 2025 case study (PDF). (opens in a new tab)
The power is in how the pieces connect
The elements aren’t a menu. Each depends on the other.
A redesigned school isn’t one that does a few things well.It’s one where the pieces work as a whole, around the students it serves.
Many starting points
No single blueprint
Every community starts from a different place. Different networks, different entry points, one shared commitment.
San Marcos Unified
Started with adults learning together about adolescent development before making any design choices.
Escondido Union
Let each school decide when to begin, not whether to.
San Bernardino City Unified
Built on its Linked Learning pathways (career-themed programs of study), weaving academics, career learning, and student supports into one experience.
Coming soon
Where am I in the redesign journey?
A short self-assessment to understand the key features of redesign, see where your school or district stands, and find your next step.
Until then, try the Learning Policy Institute’s School Redesign Self-Assessment Tool
In practice
See it in real schools
Stories from networks across California, from biomedical pathways to portfolio defenses.
