CURMUDGUCATION: TN: Mrs. Jobs' Mall Charter + Hess: The Reform Agenda

CURMUDGUCATION: TN: Mrs. Jobs' Mall Charter:

TN: Mrs. Jobs' Mall Charter

You may recall that last fall we were talking about Laurene Powell Jobs' (Wharton Business School, Goldman Sachs) entry into the world of Rich Amateurs Fixing Schools-- the XQ project, a grant competition to design America's next super-school.

Well, the super-schools are here. Almost here. And Memphis, Tennessee gets one of them.

Among the charter schools approved by the Shelby County School Board this fall (though they also shot down three, including the infamous Green Dot), is Crosstown High, one of Jobs' new super-schools.

Not your father's mall

The charter is particularly unique for its setting, which is in a multi-million dollar real estate development. Crosstown Concourse (set in the abandoned Sears & Roebuck distribution warehouse) is going to be huge, and it embraces a mission that virtually floats on a cloud of overheated developer prose:

This is not just a building limited to the physical – the steel, the stone, and the tangible. This is a million square feet of opportunity, built on history and powered by renewal. It's a place to collaborate because our lives are lived better when we discover together. We believe in the search for intersections, designing paths of unexpected connections that lead to experiences filled with creative force. This is not just a building; this is a beautiful passage of people, who together... are Crosstown Concourse.

XTH's website describes the development as

a vibrant, “vertical urban village” that houses organizations focused on healthcare, wellness, education, the arts, technology, and economic development. Retail, restaurants, and residential CURMUDGUCATION: TN: Mrs. Jobs' Mall Charter:


CURMUDGUCATION: Hess: The Reform Agenda - http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2016/09/hess-reform-agenda.html