Podcast with CIO: Invest in Values, Reap Infinite Returns

SCH recently launched its Innovation Grant Program to foster creativity and forward-thinking approaches within the school community, awarding microgrants to faculty and staff for projects that push boundaries and align with the school’s mission.

Hear our chief innovation officer Pete DiDonato discuss this innovative program with Toddle, a collaboration platform for teaching teams. The talk, "Invest in Values, Reap Infinite Returns," delves into the benefits of microgrants in education; how schools can align funding with their core values; real-life examples of projects that sparked innovation; and the ripple effect of empowering teachers with agency and resources.

On Student-Teacher Relationship

Our tech team tries to really understand that we're all coming at this with different expertise and together we're making something really special. Tech is a newer part of education and a core piece of it is the student-teacher relationship so we make sure we're supporting that.

On Innovation

I was on a great team with an amazing head of school: a real visionary. It was exciting. We were doing complex things, solving complex problems. Before you know it, we had established a reputation for girls in technology and girls in science leadership. And we started talking about innovation and entrepreneurship well before it was a buzzword. If someone had an idea, we always tried to say yes and how can we make that better. Fast forward to 2024 and we're now SCH Academy, and we've launched the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and it's become one of our specialty programs.

On Intentionality 

I think it started from us having a group of people here who at the same time had the same mindset of, I don't want to say disrupt education, but there are ways that we can reinvent pieces of it that would make it better and more relevant for both teachers and students and it could also be our differentiator. To have something that we believe in; is part of our ethos; and also sets us apart is something that's been of interest to us to maintain.

Watch the podcast with Toddle, here!