"We're trying to unite kids deeply to meaningful work so that (when they come to school), they know what they will work on will align to the kinds of people they want to be in the future," said Mike Simpson, who co-founded the Stone Independent School with Abby Kirchner in 2017.

Simpson traces the origins of the school to an experience he and Kirchner had while leading a group of students on a trip to Nepal in March 2015. He described an adventure fraught with challenges, including a high-elevation hike that required the group to cross a metal swinging bridge. After an intense effort, when they reached the other side exhausted, Kirchner said to Simpson, "I wish school could always be this way."

From there, the pair set out to create a school that was "problem-based, experiential, deeply challenging, and rigorous in a different kind of way," according to Simpson. That goal took two years of talking with parents, teachers, and others while working to raise funds and build community. In 2017, the Stone Independent School, a college preparatory school, opened to serve 20 students in a small stone building on Lime Street in Lancaster.

Currently, the school, which is notw located at 480 New Holland Ave., Lancaster, serves 116 students in a format that includes six six-week marking periods. With classes running up to 120 minutes, students have the time to collaborate and also include a number of electives in their schedules. "Our thinking is schedules should tell a story about who the students are and that's what we should market to college admissions offices," said Simpson.

By emphasizing deep learning in coordination with meaningful work, Simpson said the school endeavors to help students develop 21st-century skills, including "communication, collaboration, high-level critical thinking, ability to navigate complex social and emotional situations, and to use design thinking to solve complex problems."

Simpson noted that part of the Stone philosophy is to erase the disconnect between what students do in school and the work they will do in their adult lives. "We really believe everything our students do in physics, math, English, entrepreneurship - everything aligns to real work," explained Simpson. Our kids are constantly in a process of designing, creating, and exhibiting work that matters."

More information about the school may be found at http://www.stoneindependent.org.