“Intensive Learning fueled my passion for learning about other cultures and showed me the goodness of the world beyond MFS.”
~ Liz Boccolini ’11
With the backing of Headmaster Alex MacColl and the groundswell of innovation that surfaced at MFS in the early 1970s, Cully Miler and a group of forward-thinking teachers like Sandy Heath and Ed Dreby started the City Project in 1973, a three-week program for ninth and tenth graders to study the city of Philadelphia. The program was the genesis of the current Intensive Learning program, which allows teachers and students to break out of the structure of formal class periods and traditional study for a time of experiential learning in out-of-classroom settings. Students and teachers come to see themselves in a new light: as lifelong learners, students of the world around them.
Intensive Learning emerged as a grade-wide initiative in the Upper School, which continued to feature explorations in Philadelphia, as well as trips to camp locations. The program later expanded to include Middle School grade-level programs, highlighted by long-running trips to the Independence Seaport Museum for fifth graders; learning about and producing a play in seventh grade; as well as other experiences. Intensive Learning also settled into a length of about a week or a little longer.
With the growth of the Upper School to four sections in each grade in the 2000s, faculty members began to explore new options for Intensive Learning that led to the development of more than a dozen experiences that could be local, national, or international in scope and include groupings of students from different grades who shared a deep interest in a specific program offering. Service, the arts, language immersion, science, history, culture, environmental sustainability and numerous other themes became focal points for the development of Intensive Learning Programs. While many experiences remained centered in Moorestown, South Jersey or Philadelphia, other opportunities expanded to provide travel that was national and international, with a global reach covering from China to Germany and Iceland to Patagonia.
While local experiences have a minimal cost, the expense of non-local travel is borne by individual families, with the school providing support in proportion with financial aid a family may receive. During a four-year high school journey, students may opt to participate in two non-local experiences.
Intensive Learning, now beyond its 50-year milestone, remains a pillar of global engagement in our academic program. Administration and faculty have continued growing the quality of this signature program by diversifying travel experiences each year and by designing experiences for deeper learning that align to our community’s mission and commitment to global citizenship.
Director of Teaching and Learning, Dr. Jackie Dawson, highlights the importance of this values-driven program design, stating, “When crafting Intensive Learning, we as educators must first ask, ‘What profound learning experience are we striving to create? And how will these experiences support students to grow their capacity as critical thinkers and doers in the world?’ Only then can we determine the most effective means and environments for that authentic learning to unfold.”
Today, Intensive Learning programs are meticulously structured around driving queries that foster deep reflection before, during, and after the experience. This framework also incorporates clearly defined learning objectives, a comprehensive checklist of global competency skills for student mastery, strategic partnerships that enhance the depth and impact of learning, and proactive planning that immerses students in meaningful preparation for their work in the real world.
For More Information
- Read “An ‘Intensive’ Tradition of Learning Endures” in the Spring 2013 issue of Among Friends.
- Read descriptions of Intensive Learning programs for:
