Renovated Math Studio Opens Door to Knight Based Learning
CM took another step forward in its Knight Based Learning initiative when the school opened its renovated Math Studio last week.
West Roxbury, Mass.—The limit does not exist in Thomas Beatty’s new classroom.
Literally.
Literally.
One moment, his students sit and listen to a lecture about derivatives and integrals. The next, his AP Calculus course transforms. An image of Fenway Park lights up one of the two digital touchscreen monitors.
Students break into groups, tables assemble, and, in seconds, an exercise to find the ballpark’s area takes on a life of its own.
When Catholic Memorial School unveiled its renovated Math Studio last week, the school took a step beyond solving calculus problems from just a textbook. The mobile, collaborative Steelcase furniture allowed the room to fulfill CM’s Knight Based Learning initiative (KBL).
“I think it really gets the kids enthusiastic for math, in ways that they never really understood or appreciated,” said Mr. Beatty, who taught math in the original math classroom for over 35 years.
“When you start to talk about the real world to kids, it opens them up.”
Beginning in 2017, CM launched KBL as its own redefined version of project-based learning. Operating within the framework of the school’s Brother Edmund Rice tradition, KBL connects faith and service with real-life problems across different subjects. Classrooms require new open and collaborative work spaces to best execute this active learning mission.
CM designed the Math Studio with such space in mind. The studio consists of multi-level desks and seating equipped with adaptable furniture. Mobile and adjustable, the furniture allows teachers to evolve their classroom from presentation-style lectures into small-group work in the blink of an eye. Students no longer confine themselves to rows of seating and isolated studying. Rather, the studio serves as a model for classroom designs in the 2020s.
“The Math Studio is CM’s best attempt to provide the infrastructure that we hope inspires teachers to teach in a different way,” said Brian Palm, Director of Operations at CM.
“In the past, it could be said that our excellent teaching and lesson planning was happening in spite of our furniture and teaching spaces. Future developments and construction here will continue to push us forward.”
Steelcase, a leading manufacturer of furniture for offices, hospitals, and classrooms, partnered with CM this past year. Through Steelcase’s Active Learning Pilot Program, CM receives furniture at a significant discount. However, the renovation plan needed to create the Math Studio required a generous amount of funding from alumni.
After meeting to discuss a class gift for their fiftieth reunion, the CM Class of 1968 decided to fund a significant portion of the Math Studio’s renovation. The class made their donation as a token of appreciation for their fellow classmate, Mr. Beatty.
“[Our class] didn’t know what we were going to do,” said Mr. Beatty.
“But one of the guys stood up and said, ‘We want to do something for you,’ It really touched me. He said, ‘We love this place and that’s why we’re back here 50 years later.’”
Construction on the Math Studio occurred as a part of several other classroom renovations this past summer. These additional renovations included the new faculty and student collaboration space on the first floor of the high school, an updated art classroom at the end of the administration wing, fresh painted lockers, and new glass doorways leading into the baseball and football fields.
The initiative to expand KBL will continue when CM constructs its Center for Integrated and Applied Learning. With a $2.5 million dollar grant from the Yawkey Foundations, the proposed center offers the same cutting-edge studio classrooms and open workspaces seen in the Math Studio.
“We are moving away from the ‘sage on the stage’ concept of the teacher being the receptacle and disseminator of information,” said Mr. Palm.
"A studio approach is more of a partnership—learning on a ‘need to know’ basis—where it is relevant and there is a reason for knowing.”
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Catholic Memorial
Catholic Memorial
235 Baker StreetWest Roxbury, MA 02132P. (617) 469-8000F. (617) 977-5689
About Us
Catholic Memorial, the Christian Brothers School of Boston, prepares boys for college, manhood and a world full of unknown challenges, ambiguity and complex problems and the importance of relationships.
