ASU Preparatory Academy starts a hybrid high school program

ASU Preparatory Academy is starting a unique high school program that puts students in control of their own learning. The program will launch in Fall 2025 and will offer students in high school a flexible, hybrid schedule, leveraging both digital and in-person curricular resources.

Megan Hanley, Executive Director of School Design at ASU Preparatory Academy, and Maxwell Smith, the Founding Leader, both joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the future possibilities of this new program and what it may hold for students.

The new program will focus on seminar-style curriculum, which according Hanley focuses on topics students pick. “Students are really gonna be able to talk about the things most interesting to them,” Hanley said. “The things that are happening in the world that really impact and affect them. They get to learn the different sides of an argument, they get to understand the data behind those arguments, and then get to come up with their own analysis and arguments with their peers.”

The topics said students will focus on are meant to be ones open for debate and deeper thought, according to Smith. “It’s essentially what’s relevant in the world right now, and what’s gonna be relevant for their future,” Smith said. “These topics are the things any reasonable person could really land on either side of the fence, and have legs to stand on. We want them to practice their discussion, their debate, their dialogue, we want them to be able to have their minds changed and change each other’s minds through these conversations for the things that affect them.”

Smith also talked about the ultimate goal of the program, which is to help prepare the leaders of tomorrow using new education methods. “It’s preparing our leaders for the future,” Smith said. “And to do that, they need to know what the content is for the present and the future. So, they’re going to use education as an engine for following their dreams. We also wanna expose them to things they didn’t know they didn’t know.”