Based on my experience over the last two decades supporting teachers, I've developed with my colleagues a manner through which we can support any teacher. We start with what each individual teacher wants to do. Then we support it. That’s it. It sounds too simple, we know. (We have experience talking with folks at schools and organizations who dismiss the idea because it is so simple. We say to that: Simple is GOOD.)

We started with an initial cohort of 15 teachers who supported each other virtually during the Fall 2024 semester. We met from time to time online, listening and encouraging, sharing resources and connections, and making suggestions. We wrote some blogs, presented to each other, presented to others. Projects ranged from an instructional approaches in a single classroom to the early steps of opening a new school.

Why the name Sandcastle? Because when you build a sandcastle, you can test out various designs, quickly, and you pull down the parts of the design you don’t like. This is the iterative work of figuring things out when leading learning. Sandcastle also invokes a sandbox, or playing in the sandbox. We experiment in iterations, building, reshaping, rebuilding ...

We think Sandcastle is a big deal because it is made to be a movement, not just a one time event. We mentor a cohort of teachers, then ask them to contribute later, if they would like, by becoming a leader for a cohort themselves. In this way, our sandbox becomes a beach, filled with sandcastles, built by teachers around the world.

Our third cohort starts in Fall 2025. Express your interest in the form below or visit SANDCASTLE.