As part of its working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Center for School Change, Johnson High School in St. Paul developed a sophisticated Senior Project program. As the video linked below shows, planning and developing skills needed for the Senior Project begins when students enter as 9th graders.  The program has brought the school a good deal of positive attention in St. Paul. Despite some initial fears that the program would discourage students from enrolling, Johnson's enrollment has held firm while some other local district high schools lost students. Moreover, Johnson High School's graduation rate increased over the first four years of its work with Gates and CSC.

Below is a link to a video Johnson High School developed - a cooperative effort of administration, faculty and students. Special thanks to Kay Arndt, Johnson Principal, for her leadership on this project.

We also provide information below to some other Senior Project efforts around the country. While these were not part of the St. Paul Gates/CSC effort, we thought they might be interesting/useful.

If, after viewing this video, you would like additional details, please see:

http://governors.spps.org/Senior_Project.html

Joe Nathan

Johnson High School, St.Paul, MN

Other Senior Project Resources:

Federal Hocking High School 

George Wood at Federal Hocking High School in Ohio made 3 documents available to us.  Additional information about their Senior Project is available from Mr. Wood at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

senior project section july 2009   graduation portfolio july 2009    life after fhhs july 2009-4

 Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School
Souhegan High School

An email sent to Joe Nathan from Frank Honts, a graduate student in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Dear Joe:

I recommend investigating the work that the Francis W.
Parker Charter Essential School (in Devens, MA) has
done on Senior Projects.  At Parker, the Senior
Project acts as a capstone of the student's entire
six-year experience and is carefully "staged" to build
on the skills students develop in compiling portfolios
and completing exhibitions in Divisions I and II
(which happen roughly at the end of what are
traditionally the 8th and 10th grade years).  In an
earlier life, I directed the Sizer Teachers Center at
Parker, and I spent a lot of time working with
educators from other schools that were interested in
adopting Parker-like practices.  Time and again,
people described how much they benefited from seeing
how Senior Projects were an integral part of our
students' education, as opposed to an add-on task, as
they often are in other places.  Parker's principal,
Teri Schrader, is a terrific resource; her email
address is This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

I also recommend the section on senior projects from
Bob Mackin and Peggy Silva's book about Souhegan High
School (New Hampshire), Standards of Mind and Heart:
Creating the Good High School.

I hope these resources are of help.

Best,

Frank Honts
Graduate Student, Educational Policy Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Lehman Alternative Community School

At the "Lehman Alternative Community School" (the School Board named the school after Judy and myself upon our retirement after 30 years as founding principal/teacher and secretary, still a bit over-whelming) we've done both an Individual Senior Project and an Interdisciplinary Senior Team Project for many years.  For at least a brief description of both go to the Ithaca City School District website at <icsd.k12.ny.us>, click on "schools," click on "Lehman Alternative" , click on "High School Handbook," click on "Graduation Requirements," click on #17 "Senior Projects" and #18 "Senior Team Projects."  Hope this helps. Be in Peace, Dave

Dave Lehman, PhD
Educational Consultant
36 Jennings Pond Rd.
Spencer, NY 14883
607-272-5578 home
607-272-5578 fax
607-227-4684 cell 

Triton High School

This is a list of senior projects Triton Students carried out in 2006 and 2007, supplied by Senior Project advisor John Schreiber:

www.triton.k12.mn.us/se3bin/clientgenie.cgi

Welcome to Senior Seminar!
Senior seminar is designed to bring together skills and knowledge accumulated over the past thirteen years of school. Each student is asked to research an area that he or she is interested in. (This area may be a potential career or a hobby.) Following the research and the ensuing paper, each student embarks on a project under the guidance of a mentor from the community. Following the project, each student presents his or her learning to a board made up of teachers and community members. Interspersed with this hands-on learning experience are various "life-skill" lessons including personal finances, taxes, insurance, CPR, interviewing skills, and computer literacy.

Contact: Mr. John Schreiber or Mr. Greg Rathbun

A great deal of helpful information is available at:

www.parker.org/DivisionIII/Senior Project Handbook/senior_project_handbook.htm