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NESA NETWORKED LEARNING

The Third Way: Extraordinary Learning through Community Based Design

HOLLY REARDON & Jeff Wetzler

DATE

FEB 10 & 24, MARCH 3, 2026
CERTIFICATE

CERTIFICATE OFFERING
ELIGIBILITY

OPEN TO ALL SCHOOLS
COST

SCHOOL SUBSCRIPTION & INDIVIDUAL
AUDIENCE

FOR ALL EDUCATORS
EVENT TYPE

ONLINE

Explore community based design as a pathway toward extraordinary learning.

In times of rapid change and uncertainty, international schools are called to reimagine what extraordinary learning can look like. Community Based Design offers a compelling alternative to top down mandates and isolated bottom up initiatives. It is the Third Way, a shared process of designing with your community, not for it, ensuring that lasting change is rooted in local values, aspirations, and lived experiences.

Across three interactive sessions, participants will explore how Community Based Design can become a catalyst for change that centers learning, belonging, and purpose. Using frameworks, processes, and tools from Transcend, school leaders and educators will experience practical approaches they can adapt for their own contexts. 

Each session blends learning, application, reflection, and collaboration, creating a bank of design tools that participants can bring back to their school communities.

SESSION 1: What is Community Based Design 

Every powerful design journey begins with clarity about who we are and the world we are preparing students to navigate. This session provides a grounding in what Community Based Design is, why it matters, and how it expands a school’s capacity to create extraordinary learning environments for all learners.

Participants engage in the dual stance of looking inward at their community’s values, beliefs, tensions, and hopes and looking outward at the future forces shaping learning. Together, we explore a curated set of future trends that prompt reflection on what feels inspiring or concerning. Participants leave with a student interview protocol to use in their own schools between Sessions 1 and 2, helping them gather insights about what matters most to learners.

SESSION 2: Both Outcomes and Experiences Matter

Extraordinary learning requires schools to attend not only to what students achieve, but also to what they experience along the way. This session introduces the LEAPS framework, which invites schools to consider the relationship between experiences, outcomes, and purpose.

Participants will be introduced to the LEAPS survey, a tool they may use within their own communities to deepen understanding of student experiences. As a cohort, we reflect on emerging insights from Session 1’s student interviews and consider the implications for designing learning environments that increase the LEAPS. 

SESSION 3: Change Moves at the Speed of Conditions

Even the most promising ideas depend on the right conditions to take root and grow. In this session, participants examine Transcend’s Conditions for Innovation framework.

Through interactive diagnosis and structured reflection, participants identify which conditions currently support or hinder progress in their context. The session invites participants to make meaning of the interplay between conditions and leadership moves, exploring ways to communicate, engage, and build shared ownership across their school community.

OUTCOMES

  • Deeper understanding of community based design as a pathway to extraordinary learning for all
  • Insight into tools and frameworks for designing lasting and sustainable change
  • Strengthened professional connections and dialogue within the NESA network

Participants will earn a NESA Certificate of Completion.

AUDIENCE

This series is recommended for school based teams including teachers, instructional coaches, principals, and senior leaders who want to collaborate in reimagining learning experiences, practices, and structures within their schools.

It is particularly suited for leadership teams seeking a shared starting point before engaging their broader community in a design challenge or change process.

SCHEDULE

The three 1-hour sessions will take place on Tuesdays, from 3:00-4:00pm Athens, Greece time:

  • Session 1: February 10, 2026 (GMT+2)
  • Session 2: February 24, 2026 (GMT+2)
  • Session 3: March 3, 2026 (GMT+2)
Holly Reardon
Holly Reardon

PARTNER, SCHOOL DESIGN, Transcend Inc.

HOLLY BOWEN REARDON is a Partner, School Design at Transcend, where she leads collaborative design journeys that engage educators, families, students, and community stakeholders to reimagine how young people learn and thrive. She previously served as a teacher, principal, and executive leader in international schools, bringing a global perspective to her work in education transformation.

Holly Reardon
Jeff Wetzler

CO-FOUNDER, Transcend Inc.

JEFF WETZLER, EdD, is the Co-Founder of Transcend and author of Ask: Tap into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You. Jeff leads Transcend Labs, supporting schools and systems to create extraordinary learning for all through community based design.

Transcend is a nonprofit organization that partners with school communities to create and spread extraordinary, equitable learning environments. Founded on the belief that communities are central to designing schools where all children can thrive, Transcend has supported more than 400 schools and systems in the United States and beyond.

Registration Fees

  • NESA Member & Affiliate School Subscription: US$980
  • Non-Member School Subscription: US$1305

Fees quoted allow access to all three sessions for a school team of up to 25 members.

  • Individual Registration: US$195

Individual registration is for participants from schools without a school subscription, and includes access to all three sessions.

Please review the Cancellation Notice before registering.