September 10, 2026

Dear Educator,

As we endeavor to redesign the future of public education with communities, we have to think beyond programs, classrooms, and even school buildings.

Every community has different spaces, partners, assets, industries, and opportunities. That means learner-centered education shouldn’t look the same in every community. But the aspiration can be shared. Namely, creating ecosystems where all learners know who they are, thrive in community, and actively engage in the world as their best selves.

Getting there requires us to think differently about where learning happens and who contributes to it.

What if the parks, businesses, colleges, nonprofits, cultural institutions, and public spaces in a community weren’t simply places students occasionally visited, but part of the learning infrastructure? What if young people could move more fluidly between school and community, exploring interests, building relationships, developing skills, earning credentials and credit, and discovering possible future selves?

Instead of asking schools to provide every experience young people need within their own walls, an ecosystem approach asks a different question: How might we connect the assets that already exist across a community to expand what is possible for every learner?

This week’s Bright Spot is taking that idea to an entirely new level in New York City.

With Gratitude,

Building an Education Ecosystem in Brooklyn

At Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, Runway Green is building an education ecosystem that connects New York City public school students with learning experiences and career pathways in the green and new economy.

Runway Green recently secured a 60-year lease on a portion of the former municipal airport—now a National Park and the largest open green space in Brooklyn and Queens. Its first phase will create a seven-acre campus with the capacity to serve up to 50,000 students each year.

What excites me most isn’t the campus itself, but the ecosystem being built around it.

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Runway Green is bringing together public schools, CUNY, NYC Outward Bound Schools, Urban Assembly, Campaign Against Hunger, the New York Academy of Sciences, and industry partners to create experiences ranging from one-day exploration to semester-long, competency-based programs where students can earn high school and college credit and industry credentials.

As New York moves toward a Portrait of a Graduate and a broader definition of student success, Runway Green offers a powerful example of what becomes possible when we stop expecting schools to provide every opportunity within their walls and instead connect the people, places, expertise, and assets across a community.

What if your community's parks, businesses, and organizations became part of your learning infrastructure? Learner-Centered Collaborative partners with districts to design ecosystems where students move fluidly between school and community. If this is a direction you're exploring, we'd love to talk it through with you. Reach out to our team here to start the conversation.

This October, Katie Martin will moderate a main-stage conversation at the FullScale Symposium in Indianapolis titled "What Schools Are For: Communities, Quality, and the Future of Public Education." As families gain access to a growing range of educational options, Katie will bring together leaders from districts, charter networks, state systems, and community-rooted schools to explore what it could mean for learning to stay public in a moment of greater choice and flexibility.

Resources to advance your learner-centered practice

📖 How Teachers at One California District are Bringing Their Portrait of a Learner to Life. "Graduate Profile competencies become most powerful when teachers translate them into concrete, age-appropriate experiences students can practice in authentic contexts throughout the year." Explore the lessons they built

📖 Family Partnerships: A Key Strategy for Supporting Whole-Learner Outcomes. "Building relationships is not something that “just happens.” It is a skill—one that requires intention, effort, and practice." Get ideas to cultivate partnerships.

🎙️ Rehumaning Education—What Young People Need to Thrive with Stephanie Malia Krauss. "Drawing from her experiences as a former high school dropout, educator, school leader, researcher, and mother of two, Stephanie reflects on her evolving work—from preparing students for the future to caring for the whole child to now focusing on repairing and reclaiming the human conditions that help people flourish." Listen to this episode.