The Need For Sage Education

Adolescence is a time of intense growth: physical, social, emotional, and cognitive. The adolescent mind is undergoing rapid rewiring, while simultaneously preparing for the challenges of adulthood. This ripe neurological stage holds enormous potential, as the student experiences the world with new eyes and a refreshed sense of wonderment. As educators, parents, and concerned adults, we must ask what kinds of experiences we want this growing brain to have.

Today, adolescents are in crisis. A nationwide survey of “Developmental Assets” recently took a pulse of teens in our valley. It found that:

44% of teens in the valley feel that their teachers don’t care about them

71% of teens feel that adults in the community don’t value youth

only 42% feel that their school provides a “caring, encouraging environment”

only 38% feel that they can “communicate positively” with their parents

61% feel that their neighbors don’t care about them

64% feel that they don’t have useful roles in the community

half do not put a high value on social justice or on caring for others

only 31% feel that they have the skills to plan ahead and make choices

Although these results reflect national trends, these are our kids: the students of the Wood River Valley.

A closer look reveals another unsettling trend- the percentages of students who feel they have positive assets tend to decrease each year over 6th-12th grade. In other words, during adolescence, precisely the time when students are constructing their identities, our teens are feeling increasingly isolated and alone.

We believe that this alienation is fueled by the mismatch between adolescents’ natural developmental pathways and their daily schooling experience. Traditional schooling was not designed to acknowledge that adolescence is a critical developmental window- socially, emotionally, physically, creatively, and intellectually. In fact, schooling has changed little from the industrial era through the age of information, even though both our society and our understanding of adolescence have been revolutionized.

Modern brain science tells us that the following occurs during adolescence:

An early “exuberance,” or massive growth of brain cells, doubles the number of neurons and neural connections

By age 16-18, any unused connections are pruned away, and specialization begins

The prefrontal cortex, which integrates social, emotional, and intellectual contexts of one’s actions develops

Facial recognition and social coordination are developing

Critical thinking develops

The parietal lobe, most used during mathematical or logical problem solving, shows bulking up

Abstract mathematical thinking capabilities don’t even begin for most individuals until 6th-8th grade

Increased mylenation of the brain allows for increased speeds of neuronal communication

In short, teens are going through a massive brain reorganization. The adolescent brain builds itself from experiences, pruning away its capacity to perceive that which it has not encountered. Traditional schooling, however, wasn’t designed to meet this biological hunger for social, intellectual, creative, emotional, and physical experience. The consequence of this gap between natural adolescent growth and the student’s experience during the school day is reflected in our childrens’ feelings of disconnection.

The Sage School is designed to support adolescent development, and to guide students toward adulthood.

The Sage Solution

Curriculum