Deeper Learning 2026

Students and community service – passengers or drivers? Shift the mindset from "have to" to "want to" by empowering students as architects of change. This interactive session provides a proven framework for to having students identify needs, create plans, secure seed funding and mentor student-designed initiatives. Through real-world case studies and collaborative planning, you will gain practical strategies and a concrete roadmap to launch student-led service projects in your own community.

Learning environments are often designed without the voices of our most important stakeholders: the people we are meant to serve. Imagine instead working together with families to identify needs, co-create solutions, and celebrate growth. If you’re a school leader seeking to foster these genuine connections, join us to experience community rap sessions, a culturally responsive practice that creates space for every voice to be heard. This session begins engaging educators as learners in an immersive experience, then shifts to the structures and planning needed to implement community rap sessions in your own school. Together, we will examine how these practices can become a routine way to engage families and community members meaningfully. As a Deeper Learning by Doing® experience, leave with concrete tools and strategies, personal action steps, contacts for follow-up coaching, and greater confidence to authentically partner with families and communities.

In today’s world, what you plan for now may be upended by new forces tomorrow. Educational policies shift quickly, AI is transforming how learning happens, and geopolitical and environmental pressures are adding new layers of complexity. Your school community looks to you to lead through uncertainty with clarity and confidence.
In this interactive workshop, you will have dedicated time, tools, and opportunities for peer collaboration to help you navigate competing challenges with agility and purpose. Through case studies, real-time scenarios, and focused problem-solving conversations, you’ll explore practical frameworks for making high-stakes decisions, communicating clearly with your community, and keeping your school aligned with its mission—even when the road ahead is uncertain.
This highly relevant, active session designed to help future-ready leaders build resilient, responsive, and mission-driven schools in an era of uncertainty.

Note: This DL session also invites attendees from the National Summit on Improvement in Education to participate. Summit is a gathering and rallying point for a vibrant and diverse community of improvers who are working to create educational systems where all young people learn and thrive. In 2026, we're bringing together the powerful Deeper Learning and Improvement communities through select crossover sessions, culminating in a joint closing keynote. You are invited to dive deeper and make new connections at DL26. Check out our Summit and DL26 comparison to learn more.

This session introduces Neighborhood Walks as a powerful entry point into a community-connected, place-based learning experience. Drawing on WPS Institute partnerships with urban schools in Massachusetts, we’ll engage with student voices that illuminate the dimensions of learning, connection, and engagement that can happen when young people step outside the classroom. Participants will then experience a Neighborhood Walk near the conference site, guided by simple lenses such as Making a Living or Being in Community. Along the way, you’ll practice skills that scaffold student confidence for learning in the wider world.
Together, we’ll identify the skills and mindsets students develop through these immersions, and leave with practical tools to create neighborhood walks for your own schools and communities.

Note: This DL session also invites attendees from the National Summit on Improvement in Education to participate. Summit is a gathering and rallying point for a vibrant and diverse community of improvers who are working to create educational systems where all young people learn and thrive. In 2026, we're bringing together the powerful Deeper Learning and Improvement communities through select crossover sessions, culminating in a joint closing keynote. You are invited to dive deeper and make new connections at DL26. Check out our Summit and DL26 comparison to learn more.

In this session, participants will learn about the student experience through the coping process. Whether you're a school leader, classroom teacher, parent/caregiver, or student this session will offer fresh insights and strategies to help navigate stress, foster well-being, and enhance engagement. Participants will leave with concrete ways to support adaptive coping at home and at school. Come learn from what students are saying in our national data and how coping impacts their ability to thrive in our schools!

Note: This DL session also invites attendees from the National Summit on Improvement in Education to participate. Summit is a gathering and rallying point for a vibrant and diverse community of improvers who are working to create educational systems where all young people learn and thrive. In 2026, we're bringing together the powerful Deeper Learning and Improvement communities through select crossover sessions, culminating in a joint closing keynote. You are invited to dive deeper and make new connections at DL26. Check out our Summit and DL26 comparison to learn more.

As educators, we design our learning environments with great care - spaces we feel comfortable in and feel will be engaging for our students, leaning on research, wisdom of practice,  and intuition.  What if we could find ways to improve even the best laid plans?  What hidden or untapped resources might be in and around your classroom to help increase belonging, engagement, self-awareness, and appreciation for culture and place?

Come join us in our collaborative lab space to explore Stanford’s Dimensions of Belonging as a framework for considering the roles we allow people and place to play in our learning environments; in our Belonging Lab, we’ll prototype changes to our school or classroom spaces that goes beyond just welcoming environment to activating our spaces and students as shapers of belonging.

Lunch is included in each deep dive.
LUNCH MENU
Greek Salad (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Cannelini Bean & Pasta Salad (Vegan)
Lemon Basmati Rice (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Mediterranean Spiced Chicken (Gluten-Free)
Tahini Dressing
Falafel (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Roasted Vegetables   Lemon Bars & Baklava

Learning environments are often designed without the voices of our most important stakeholders: the people we are meant to serve. Imagine instead working together with families to identify needs, co-create solutions, and celebrate growth. If you’re a school leader seeking to foster these genuine connections, join us to experience community rap sessions, a culturally responsive practice that creates space for every voice to be heard. This session begins engaging educators as learners in an immersive experience, then shifts to the structures and planning needed to implement community rap sessions in your own school. Together, we will examine how these practices can become a routine way to engage families and community members meaningfully. As a Deeper Learning by Doing® experience, leave with concrete tools and strategies, personal action steps, contacts for follow-up coaching, and greater confidence to authentically partner with families and communities.

What if your block was the best classroom you’ve never used? Drawn from the WPS Institute’s partnerships with urban schools in Massachusetts, this session introduces Neighborhood Walks as a powerful entry point into community-connected, place-based learning.

We’ll begin by engaging with student voices from Salem and Boston that highlight the learning, connection, and engagement that emerge when young people step outside the classroom. Participants will then experience a Neighborhood Walk near the conference site, guided by lenses such as Making a Living or Being in Community. Along the way, they will practice slow observation, photo documentation, and reflection protocols that scaffold student confidence for learning in the wider world. Together, we will identify the skills and mindsets students develop through these immersions and leave with tools to design neighborhood walks for their own schools and communities.

Note: This DL session also invites attendees from the National Summit on Improvement in Education to participate. Summit is a gathering and rallying point for a vibrant and diverse community of improvers who are working to create educational systems where all young people learn and thrive. In 2026, we're bringing together the powerful Deeper Learning and Improvement communities through select crossover sessions, culminating in a joint closing keynote. You are invited to dive deeper and make new connections at DL26. Check out our Summit and DL26 comparison to learn more.

In this workshop, you won’t just learn about social and emotional leadership skills—you’ll practice how to teach them. You’ll take part in activities that model strategies for helping students develop self-leadership skills like self-awareness, accountability, resilience, and integrity. Through focused protocols and collaborative exercises, you’ll experience how to guide students in building the skills for leading with others, including collaboration, communication, active listening, respect, and consideration. You’ll also design and test out lesson activities that encourage students to expand their leadership impact by cultivating visionary thinking, motivation, encouragement, and confidence. By the end of the session, you’ll leave with practical tools, ready-to-use strategies, and hands-on experience to bring back to your classroom.