Cowen Institute to help create new floating super school

New Harmony High, a "super school" that will be built on a floating barge, is the winner of a $10 million prize from XQ: The Super School Project.

“We are so grateful to XQ for this award and are excited to help make New Harmony High a Super School for Louisiana,” said Amanda Kruger Hill, executive director of the Cowen Institute at Tulane University, which is a partner in the effort to establish the innovative school. “The Cowen Institute’s mission is to advance public education and youth success, and the vision for New Harmony High aligns with that mission,” said Hill.

The school was selected as part of a competition seeking completely new and innovative designs for high school education. New Harmony High's curriculum will focus on the fundamental environmental and economic challenges facing south Louisiana, including coastal protection and restoration.

“We are so grateful to XQ for this award and are excited to help make New Harmony High a Super School for Louisiana.”

Amanda Kruger Hill

The New Harmony High School proposal was one of more than 700 entries submitted to the XQ: Super School Project competition, which promised to award prizes of $10 million over 5 years to winning proposals.  New Harmony High will be a game-changing public high school, using students' passions, talents, and skills to address the very real challenge of coastal change.

As a next step, the school’s 17-member team will begin an extensive community-engagement process to ensure that New Harmony High puts students at the center of their own learning, and at the center of community needs. Leaders plan to initiate community meetings as early as October 2016.