2020 The year we
harnessed our potentials
"IT'S NOT ABOUT WHAT IT IS, ...
... IT'S ABOUT WHAT IT CAN BECOME." DR. SEUSS
CHALLENGES AND NEW BEGINNINGS Everyone has potential. For some, it is readily observable, while for others it is still waiting to be discovered. In order for people to reach their potential, there must be opportunities and experiences for growth. In 2020, there were many challenges, but we prefer to think of them as opportunities. Around the world, schools were forced to close their campuses and many focused their attention inwards in an effort to self-preserve. At Escola Concept, we made sure that our focus continued to be guided by the school’s vision. This allowed us to bring our community closer together with initiatives like the Parent Educational Learning Community (PELC), the virtual Festivals of Learning, and the Inspiration Commons book drive-thru, to name a few. In the true spirit of innovation, we also seized this opportunity and expanded our network by inviting wellrenowned education specialists to speak at our various live events; in.MINDS, Morning Bites, and our.MINDS. To say the least, opportunities were abound. As for growth, we need only consider all of the experiences that took us out of our comfort zone and into our stretch zone. Now, as the year comes to an end, most of those same experiences that once stretched us, can be comfortably found in our comfort zone. Reflecting on this past school year, there are innumerous reasons to celebrate. Our accomplishments tell a story and together we were able to harness our potential! Scott McMullan Associate Head of School, Concept São Paulo
MESSAGE FROM THE LEADERSHIP
The year of 2020 was an outlier. Outliers are defined by being different from those that surround them. We know that 2020 was very different from all years that surrounded it. In education outliers are change makers. 2020 was a change maker. 2020 changed our routines, our priorities, our approaches to education, our digital fluency abilities, our views on empathy... 2020 changed our lives. 2020 supported us to internalize the power of community and we learned to further embrace the value of WE before ME. We are grateful for 2020 for offering us so many opportunities and for allowing us the opportunity to grow amid so many challenges. We are grateful for all of you for partnering with us, bringing us all closer together, and coalescing around a common goal... the goal of educating our learners for an even more inspiring tomorrow. With joy and much gratitude, Priscila Torres Head of School, Concept SĂŁo Paulo
This year, a complex global change has impacted everyone's lives. After months of intense changes, we can observe with great optimism and positivity the response of our schools to the recent challenges. We feel proud and confident to find that, with the support of the whole community, with a structured and innovative academic program, added to new technologies and with our educators in frequent professional development, we managed to keep learning alive and uninterrupted in 2020. Our learners remained creative, flexible and determined to exploit the best of their potential in all proposals. Certainly, this whole 2020 learning journey brings us a huge sense of gratitude and optimism to see even better opportunities in the future. Fred Azevedo Head of School, Concept RibeirĂŁo Preto
Dear families and students, Who could imagine that we would live a year like this? It wasn't easy for any of us! We faced huge challenges, but never wavered on the premise that successful learning only happens based on the tripod: learner, school, and family. As 2020 comes to an end, a year full of changes, we would like to express how grateful we are for your trust and partnership that was decisive in the process of continuing our learning journey after our learners left the classroom for the virtual school. For this format to succeed, it was necessary to exercise our flexibility, our ability to adapt to changes, our persistence, and creativity in solving problems. Today, after overcoming so many obstacles, we feel that we have all grown and our connections are stronger. For that, we can only be grateful for all the commitment, support, and patience. I hope that very soon we can all be together again, celebrating our students and their achievements! With gratitude, Nadja Valente Head of School, Escola Concept Salvador
REVIEW
OUR YEAR AT A GLANCE This year, we faced many challenges, but got together as one and continued to build learning opportunities for our learners and families. Learning hasn’t stopped at Concept! So, let’s have a look at some of the main projects we have developed in 2020.
CONCEPT EXPERIENCE january
SUSTAINNOVATE march
PELC february
MORNING BITES may
VACATION TOOLKIT april
IN.MINDS may
VIRTUAL VILLAGE march SPOTLIGHT may
FESTA JUNINA july
IC Drive-Thru june
OUR.MINDS august
CONCEPT HIGH & PRE-HIGH SCHOOL september
FESTIVAL OF LEARNING september and november
STUDENTS’ HIGH LIGHTS
CONFERENCE PROJECTS FABLEARN 2020 NY Four projects by learners from Escola Concept Salvador were presented this year at the FabLearn 2020 conference, at Columbia University in New York, the event brought together the biggest influencers in the field of education, design and research. The projects aim to promote well-being, health and sustainability, with innovative and practical solutions. TrashBall Can, Bernardo Lopes (grade 9), Sophia Almeida (grade 8) and Angel Miranda (grade 7), created a themed trash can in the shape of a basketball hoop in order to encourage, in a playful and fun way, the correct disposal of the trash in the school cafeteria. In addition to the FabLearn Flagship Conference 2020, TrashBall Can was selected and participated in FabLearn Latin America 2019 (Montevideo, Uruguay) and the 10Âş Encontro de Jovens Cientistas (UFBA). RePaper, Gabriel Cardoso (grade 9), LetĂcia Alfano (grade 8), Maria Gonzaga (grade 8), the learners realized the high consumption of paper at school, and developed a wastebasket that aims to streamline the first two phases of the process recycling: the fragmentation of the paper and the process of soaking the fragmented paper for 48 hours, RePaper.
The Shelter project allows the use and reuse of water in the most diverse situations, especially in the garden, due to its ease of construction and adaptability, by students Gabriel Rabelo (grade 7), Rafael Hasan (grade 8), Nicollas Niwton (grade 8) and Rodrigo Sturaro (grade 8). Note Diaper, the project was one of the 300 finalists of FEBRACE 2020 (USP), the most important science and engineering fair in Brazil, participated in FabLearn Latin America 2019, in Montevideo (Uruguay) and took 2nd place in the 10th Youth Meeting Scientists (UFBA), category "Office of Scientific Curiosities".
Developed by learners Alice Nunes (grade 9), Emanuel Castro (grade 8) and Enzo Franรงa (grade 8). They created a system that notifies the caregiver when it is time to change the diaper of an adult patient, promoting quality of life, well-being and avoiding diseases and discomfort, caused by the misuse of disposable diapers.
BRAZILIAN ASTRONOMY AND ASTRONAUTICS OLYMPICS We are celebrating our three OBA medal-winners from Concept Ribeirão Preto! Antonio Daneze and Lucas Ciosaki, both from Grade 9, won gold medals, and João Victor Leiria, Grade 8, won a bronze medal. The OBA (Brazilian Astronomy and Astronautics Olympics) is a challenge for elementary and high school students from all over Brazil and its tests have logical reasoning questions. Congratulations to the learners and educators involved in this project! We are very proud of these achievements!
LUCAS CIOSAKI ANTÔNIO DANEZE
JOÃO VICTOR LIEIRA
CONCEPT DOCUMENTARY
The school that challenged creativity. We started 2020 inspired by the story of the Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. His strength, persistence, and creativity to overcome difficulties transformed the reality of his village. This is how 2020 began… creativity was our biggest ally. Click here to watch the first part of our Concept Documentary, a series of interviews where our three campuses’ team talk about this unique year we’ve shared.
"It's fun to do the impossible." WALT DISNEY
What an incredible year we shared! We turned challenges into opportunities and kept the learning alive, together. On campus and in our Virtual School we celebrated the achievements of our learners. We cannot wait to see what they’ll accomplish next year! Save this special date: our 2021 Academic Year will begin on January 26th.
FOLLOW US!
Now our campuses in RibeirĂŁo Preto, SĂŁo Paulo and Salvador have won their own Instagram page, so we can stay more close to you! Follow, like and share the content of our community of lifelong learners.
@escolaconceptsalvador @escolaconceptsp @escolaconceptribeirao
HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT
THE HABITS OF MIND? The habits of mind are an identified set of 16 problem solving, life-related skills, necessary to effectively operate in society and promote strategic reasoning, insightfulness, perseverance, creativity and craftsmanship. Our team already knows which Habit of Mind they used the most in 2020? Click here to find out!
HAVE YOU HAD THE CHANCHE TO READ OUR PUBLICATIONS ON ISSUU?
CLICK HERE AND CHECK OUT THE PAGE WHERE YOU CAN FIND ALL OF THE LATEST EDITIONS!
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
2020 The year we
harnessed our potentials