Integrating design-innovation programs through Fessy’s Ciongoli Center for Innovation
The Fessenden School is a 117 year-old independent boys' boarding and day school located in Newton, MA that serves students K-9.
In 2016, Fessenden launched their state-of-the-art Ciongoli Center for Innovation (CCI) with the hope of embedding design thinking and innovation across every course and subject area. Soon after, we embarked on our partnership with Fessenden by embedding our NuVuX Fellow within Fessenden to work side-by-side with the CCI team to support teachers and students in furthering their design and innovation skills. The NuVuX Fellow co-lead hands-on Innovation Studio courses each semester, collaborated with teachers and students in grades 3-9 on capstone projects, and lead a variety of interdisciplinary initiatives at the CCI. In 2022, our partnership model transitioned into a consulting model that supports both the CCI team as well as the larger teaching and faculty team across the school in incorporating studios and project-based learning. This includes use of NuVuX studio curriculum, consulting with teachers on curriculum development, topic-specific PD training, and onsite and remote support.
NuVuX has expanded and deepened the learning that happens in the CCI through a commitment to collaboration on multiple levels. With support from our NuVuX Experts, Fessenden teachers have been able to frame new, open-ended problems as part of studios they are designing and running on NuVuX's NuFolio platform, as well as help guide students through an iterative process and expand their fabrication and software skills along the way. One such example is a cohort-based 9th grade program - an initiative designed to allow for more cross-disciplinary, project-based learning - that combines students' subject skill knowledge in Biology, English, and Global Citizenship to work with seniors at the Scandinavian Living Center to uncover stories embedded in memory, history, and identity.
Over the last eight years of our partnership, hundreds of students and dozens of Fessenden faculty have engaged with NuVuX through professional development, curriculum consulting, onsite or remote support, critique, or use of our NuFolio platform and resources.
