At the end of every school day, students participate in “Taking care of Forge” for 10 minutes. Whether it is wiping down tables or taking out the trash or preparing classrooms for the next day by erasing whiteboards, we want students to feel and be accountable for their environment They should not feel like it is someone else’s job to take care of their school. Tbh, we thought students would be pretty unenthusiastic about this, but we were wrong. They like it. Fun fact: bagging the trash and taking it out to the dumpster is the most highly coveted role. As Montessori articulated, they like doing work that is meaningful and valuable. They’re having fun and doing quality work alongside their classmates. They are taking responsibility for their school, and it’s been wonderful to see. They’re also learning how to divide up what feels like a big task and seeing firsthand that ‘many hands make light work’. We believe this is 1 of those small daily rituals whose benefit compounds over time.

🔥 "I’m rooting for Forge Prep to succeed" The University of Virginia's Vice Provost @KemiJona writes about @ForgePrep saying: "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘱 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭, 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦, 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴"

Great “trick” to get kids to learn Two groups read the same passage. * Group A was told they'd be tested. * Group B was told they'd have to teach it to another student. Nobody actually taught anything. They were just told they’d have to teach. Group B crushed it. Better recall. Better organization. Advantage concentrated on main points. So just believing they'd have to teach changed how they studied. The researchers' line that stuck with me: students have effective study strategies they simply don't use unless prodded to. So our kids already know how to learn well. They just don't do it when they're told to study for a test. The test framing makes them passive. While teaching makes them active. At @ForgePrep, the highest level of mastery students can demonstrate is teaching another students to competence. It’s part of why we have Montessori mixed age classes as this creates more opportunities for this type of teaching

One of the strangest things schools do to curious, capable students is prevent them from moving at their own pace In fact, going ahead can get you in trouble We're literally teaching kids to stop being curious

I "love" school

How to NOT get friend-zoned in business The big mistake I’ve made in my many startup efforts (7 in total) was trying to cater to everyone. My thinking was “The world is big. Why not go after all of it?” Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. Every time I've done this, it has backfired. It made us plain vanilla. It made us sand down all of our edges to try to be smooth and likable to everyone. And so people liked us, but nobody loved us. It’s the equivalent of that guy a girl goes out with and then when her friends ask how it went, she says “he was nice.” #friendzone And so in effort to learn from the past, we didn’t do that with @ForgePrep We like to say “We are a school for anybody, but we are not for everybody.” We have a clear viewpoint on what education for 2040, not 1940 looks like, and we ensure that comes through in everything, including our website. We are unapologetically a bit smash-mouthed and talk isht when asked Love us or hate us, you will have an opinion. And it’s working. Since we announced our campus in Livingston, NJ in mid-December, 1007 families have signed up to learn more about Forge And by the end of next week, I’ll have had 137 conversations with these families. It feels like the early days of @CBinsights. Where are you Harrison?!? (iykyk) Our early decision applications close on January 15th, and we’re seeing the right types of folks apply mostly because we have a viewpoint and it resonates w/ them. And it repels others. Which means when I jump on the phone with a family, they're already aligned. They still want to learn more but they've self-selected in cuz they're already part of the tribe (at least philosophically) * They're the kind of parents who are fine with their kid being independent and failing sometimes. * They have kids who are deeply curious, creative and capable but who are bored with school. They all think trad school has lots of problems So for any startup founders out there... If everyone is a potential customer, nobody is. Clarity attracts. Having some sharp edges repels. Both are good and necessary (especially in the early days)

At home, kids ask dozens of questions per hour Then school starts By preschool, questions drop to a couple per hour By upper elementary, they drop to near zero School quietly teaches them that questions are a distraction cc @rebelEducator

We're building a school that refuses to underestimate students. One that values: ▪️ Competence over compliance. ▪️ Building over busywork. ▪️ Mastery over memorization. A school built for 2040. Not 1940.

Just finalized our 1st school in Short Hills, NJ (400 students) A new kind of school fixing education Looking for someone to own grassroots mktg to ensure every family w/in 10 miles knows & loves us Can be freelancer, agency or early teammate Any recs? If this is you, DM me

High school bathroom passes Accurate tiktok: maxipad697

Over the past year and a half my daughter has been building a crochet plushie business that has already made over $4,000 in revenue! Recently she was awarded a $1000 Formidable Fellowship grant to support her business. The Formidable Fellowship is a non-profit started by successful entrepreneurs to support middle and high school entrepreneurs in the USA. 🤙 @formidablegrant

$974 in 4 months Learned how to build NFC keychains We talk to Clair about how she can 10x her biz in the next 12 months

During quarantine, I founded a post-production agency that did mid–5 figures. I recently received a $1,000 @formidablegrant to support my new app launching this month. The Formidable Fellowship is a nonprofit that backs U.S. middle & high school entrepreneurs like me.