School's in Session for Urban Planning High School

The emphasis is on encouraging students to understand how change happens in their community, and to become more involved in that process now and in the future.

"For this wonky-sounding school is not only about zoning and parking minimums. Teachers say they're easing into the broad and complex world of urban planning from a more abstract starting point. 'For our students, at this stage, ‘urban planning' is not even a term that they use. We're mainly talking about community,' says Martin Buchman, an English teacher who led the effort behind the school and the curriculum. Buchman and his colleagues felt that urban planners' emphasis on community development and public participation was especially relevant to local students and their families."