We were lucky to catch up with Kalee Barbis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kalee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?

For far too long, education has remained stagnant. Plagued by to-do lists, worksheets, and a packed daily schedule, students learn how to follow instructions instead of exploring their interests, creating hands-on projects, and making real-world connections. At Templeton Academy, we shifted the narrative to make school all about the Students. Templeton Academy was founded to revolutionize the way Students learn by mentoring the critical thinking and problem-solving skills they need to thrive in college, career, and life. We welcome young people from all backgrounds and seek to nurture them into purpose-driven lifelong learners who use their gifts in a way that brings them joy and serves others. Our students engage in Core Advisory, where with meaningful relationships with their Advisor and their peers, Students engage in an innovative curriculum that helps them delve deep into who they are — their strengths, interests, and values. We also use the academically rigorous model of Gold Standard Project-Based Learning that focuses on authenticity and real-world connections, contains rigorous reflection and revision, and whose efficacy in increasing higher-level thinking skills and key success skills is well-documented. Lastly, we utilize the city as a classroom through Field Work. At TA, we believe the most meaningful learning often comes from being out in the world and interacting with the community, not limited by a desk or a classroom. Through these components, Students are truly seen preparing them to be successful in college and beyond.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

A life long learner, I always grappled with the question of what school could possibly be for students. A student in a traditional public high school, taking all Advanced Placement courses, I knew how to cram for a test, memorize vocabulary, and knock out a to-do list. When I got to my first job as a high school teacher, my boss asked me what I truly thought about a problem. I realized that no one had ever asked me. I was expected to check the boxes while not thinking outside the box. This revelation shaped the way I approached education. As a teacher and an administrator, I began to question the traditional education system. This led me from a traditional public school to a charter school and from Nashville to DC. Innovating at an XQ Superschool, I saw the potential of tinkering with the traditional school model. Missing my hometown while listening to friends start to wrestle with the question of where to send their own children, I told my husband I thought we should return to Nashville to open a school. He suggested I look at Templeton Academy, a small innovative private school, located in our neighborhood in Capitol Hill. Seeing my own core values operating in a school model led me to reach out to our president, Temp Keller, about bringing the model to Nashville. Six months, and countless, interviews later, I returned to Nashville to open Templeton Academy.

Templeton Academy (TA) offers students a rigorous academic curriculum across all core subject areas while also offering every student the opportunity to prepare for the real world with experiential learning. Each student also provides their own technology that allows them to interact with learning materials in a dynamic and personalized way. Students also have access to core classes, specializations, and International Abroad programs within their high school career. Our schedule also allows students and teachers time to delve into Project Based Learning while gaining rigorous depth rather than superficial breadth in content knowledge. Educational activities like examining Supreme Court cases in US History or visiting notable city landmarks for a lesson on art are only possible in a setting that provides that needed time and space.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

So many times, people underestimate this surly age group of 5th to 12th graders, but teenagers are the best! They are creative, innovative, curious, and kind. I have realized that students often do better than we expect if we simply get out of their way and allow them to express themselves. From seeing Students organize a toy drive for cancer patients to forming a Black Student Union, to coding a video game, I see students do truly innovative things inside and outside of the classroom each and every day. It is an honor and a privilege to work with teenagers. I love seeing them come in as curious 5th graders, and watching them evolve into truly remarkable adults.

Templeton Academy’s model is inherently designed to hone students’ soft skills. Empathy, conscientiousness, self-regulation, perseverance, and time management can be learned most effectively through project-based learning. Deliberately adding reflection and growth to our lesson design helps students add goal-setting and self-reflection to their educational experience and helps prepare them for long-term success.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I started to write about the pivot Templeton Academy made during Covid-19. The decisions as we switched to online learning and back felt grueling, but the pivot that made the biggest impact on our business came when we changed the way we hire! Templeton Academy is a different school- and we ask our staff to do so much as they embody our WolfPACK model of Personalization, Altruism, Collaboration, and Keen. In small classes of 8-12, teachers are constantly differentiating content. For advisory, teachers are making meaningful connections with students- and altruism is key to hold space for student feelings. As the only teacher for a content area, collaborating is core so we can share ideas on project plans or exchange strategies with others. As we shift from start-up to sustainable, it is imperative to work smarter instead of harder. Initially, we did traditional interviews, valuing traditional things like teaching experience. We shifted the hiring process to explore mindsets, test creativity, and ensure match with the “Templeton Way” of doing things. This pivot felt painful. We turned over more than half our staff. With growing pains though, we shifted our hiring process by elevating our values. We asked hires to interact with students, conduct case studies, and propose projects for particular standards. This led to our staff embodying the Templeton Academy Way and truly articulating our model. With a retention rate of 91%, teachers and students are all thriving in the WolfPACK!

Contact Info:

• Website: templetonnashville.com, templetonacademy.org
• Instagram: @templetonacademynashville
• Facebook: facebook.com/templetonacademynashville
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/templeton-academy/mycompany/