CMS Advanced Studies hosted a first-ever Cambridge Symposium at Hopewell High School on Thursday, Aug. 13, bringing together educators, school administrators and central office leaders to take a deeper look at Cambridge programming and how it’s offered in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. 

“The Cambridge Symposium allows opportunities for teachers to connect with other educators, share best practices and grow within their practice,” said Lisa Pagano, director of Advanced Studies. “It also allows teachers and leaders to see vertical alignment of programming and how it builds over time for students.”

Cambridge programs offer a flexible, fully integrated pre-K through 12 curriculum — known as the Cambridge Pathway — that combines globally recognized teaching, learning and assessment. The program heavily emphasizes problem-solving, analysis and verbal/written communication over rote memorization and is centered around five learner attributes: responsible, confident, reflective, engaged and innovative. At the high school level, Cambridge is an advanced pathway and students can earn college credits for successful completion of courses, as well as the AICE (Advanced International Certificate of Education) diploma. 

CMS schools that offer Cambridge include Barnette Elementary, Eastway Middle, Francis Bradley Middle, Grand Oak Elementary, Hopewell High, Independence High, Long Creek Elementary, Mint Hill Middle and Torrence Creek Elementary.

“We aim to strengthen Cambridge implementation in every school where it is offered,” said Pagano. “This symposium aligns well with an overarching goal of our CMS 2028 AIG Plan of increasing integrity in our programming.”

During the symposium, participants attended breakout sessions that covered topics including “Inside a Cambridge Classroom,” “Launching and Maintaining a Successful Cambridge Program,” and “Utilizing Cambridge Tools and Data for Student Success.” Hopewell alumni also returned for a session and shared how Cambridge prepared them for college.

“One of the biggest things we’re hoping to gain is to level set,” said Hopewell Principal Jim Vanosdall. “There are individuals here today that are new to their school and don’t know anything about Cambridge and there are individuals here that have been here for years. So we’re hoping that those who are new can learn from those who have been here and then take back some of those strategies to help see what can be done with the program at their school.”

Vanosdall said Cambridge was first introduced to Hopewell in 2015 by a parent who had moved to Charlotte from Florida, where their child had taken Cambridge classes before, who wanted to know how they could incorporate the programming at the school. 

Patrick Brust, Cambridge coordinator at Hopewell, said the program grew from 30 students taking a Cambridge course when the program first launched to more than 1,000. Vanosdall and Brust both like the flexibility and opportunity Cambridge offers students. As a coordinator, Brust finds a lot of joy in finding students and giving them a push to try a higher-level course.

“I find that there are a lot of students out there who have the talent and the capability, but they either don’t know that about themselves or they might not be motivated to do the challenging work,” said Brust. “I take a lot of pride and satisfaction in being able to guide students towards doing some advanced courses, and I really try to ease them into it and not overwhelm them. More often than not, they thrive.”

Post-symposium, Brust said they will continue to partner with their feeder schools and carry on their conversations on ensuring student success in the program and keeping families engaged.

“One of our biggest goals is to continue to strengthen the feeder pattern and those collaborative relationships that we already have and really build that pipeline for our students,” said Brust. “We think Cambridge is a really good program that helps keep students in CMS and keep students in our schools. So we want to strengthen what they’re already doing in elementary and middle school to continue to build and grow.”