Step 2
Design Experience 2: Developing a School Concept

Pre-work

Preparing for Design Experience 2

Experience

Design Experience 2

Post-work

Post-Work Activities

Engaging Community

Overview

In this step, you will engage your broader community to refine your Model-at-a-Glance and foster deeper ownership of the emerging Bold School Concept. By listening to diverse perspectives—including students, families, and local partners—you can ensure your design reflectS real-world hopes, needs, and aspirations. This is a critical moment to center youth voice, elevate underrepresented perspectives, and make revisions based on authentic feedback.

Outputs
  • Organized and synthesized community feedback documented in the Design Journey Notebook
  • Draft or updated Community Engagement Plan capturing who was engaged, what was learned, and emerging themes
  • Public-facing share out artifact (e.g., a poster, newsletter, or slide deck) used to share findings and invite continued community feedback

Goal
Gather input from students, families, and community members on the draft Model-at-a-Glance and use that feedback to refine your Bold School Concept.

Owner(s)
School design team

Contributor(s)
District transformation team, students, families, community stakeholders, facilitation partner

Resources

Community Engagement Toolkit
A menu of ready-to-use engagement strategies—from student shadowing to community interviews—to spark listening and learning.

XQ Competency Cards
A key tool to engage stakeholders about what is important to them.

Youth Voice Cards
A guide for student conversations to elevate learner voice in your reflections and revisions.

Design Journey Notebook
Central hub for team plans, community engagement activities, collected input, design reflections, and next steps between Design Experiences.

Putting It Into Practice

1

Share your draft Model-at-a-Glance:

Socialize your draft Model-at-a-Glance with a diverse group of students, families, educators, and community members. Present it in accessible, engaging formats—such as visual displays, simple summaries, or video walkthroughs. Be clear about the type of feedback you’re seeking by posing prompts like:

  • What parts of our Model-at-a-Glance feel most exciting or inspiring to you?
  • What feels unclear, unrealistic, or disconnected from your experience?
  • How well does this vision reflect what our community—especially students—needs from school?

Use protocols from the Community Engagement Toolkit as well as the Youth Voice Toolkit to guide conversations and capture actionable insights.

2

Elevate community perspectives using the XQ Competencies

Facilitate conversations using the XQ Competency Navigator to learn what families, students, and community members see as essential for graduate success. Use this input to strengthen alignment between your vision and community priorities.

3

Gather student insight through interviews:

Student Design Team members interview at least 5 other students about the best learning experience they ever had and return ready to share what trends emerged, using the Youth Voice Cards. Synthesize data into key insights to share back.

4

Synthesize and organize feedback:

Designate a team member (or small group) to review all the input gathered and identify emerging trends, key insights, and areas of divergence, summarizing it in a clear, shareable format so the full team can reflect and determine how to apply the insights.

5

Reflect and refine:

As a team, review the synthesized feedback. Identify which insights should directly shape revisions to your Bold School Concept. Ask:

  • What feedback aligns with the XQ Design Principles?
  • What changes will make the design stronger and more connected to our community?
  • What did this feedback reveal about how we’re communicating our vision or the “why” behind our design?
  • How might we build greater clarity and conviction so future engagement leads to deeper, more informed input?

Document your design decisions and rationale in your Design Journey Notebook, and refine your Bold School Concept accordingly.

6

Optional "can do" activities:

  • Invite community members to “audit” your Model-at-a-Glance using the Design Principles. This is a powerful way to deepen shared ownership and test the clarity of your design.
Go to Next Step
Preparing for Design Experience 3
Let's go →