Speakers
Quality: Career Readiness
Discover the power of competency-based education through the lens of New Legacy Charter School, which has successfully empowered students to demonstrate mastery of essential skills and knowledge. Learn how they've implemented this innovative model to create a more personalized, flexible, and equitable learning environment for all students. Through this workshop, you'll gain insights into:
By the end of this workshop, you'll be equipped with the knowledge and tools to create a more equitable and personalized learning environment for all students.
Prior to working in education, Sara Kahn held multiple positions in a variety of industry sectors including food service, teaching music, and project management. In 2004, Sara began at San Diego High School as a secretary while she went to school at night and raised her two daughters. After finishing her degree, Sara became a teacher and Vice Principal at Mira Mesa High School, and in 2013 was appointed as the Principal of San Diego Metropolitan Regional Career & Technical High School (a.k.a. San Diego Met).
Early in her career, Sara made a personal commitment to be a change agent for students. Her experiences in the private sector, as a parent, and eventually in all of her roles in schools gave her insights and a desire to help shape the future of educational practice. After working for four years at San Diego Met, which is affiliated with the Big Picture Learning network of schools, Sara moved from her native San Diego to the Denver, Colorado area. Sara worked as an Assistant Principal in JeffCo at Warren Tech for two years before taking on the Principal role at New Legacy Charter School where she is eager to continue the work of Big Picture Learning for their students and other schools and communities in Colorado.
“There is a lot of good and innovative work being done across the globe and if I can help expand on that work, our youth will have more choice in their education and new opportunities for truly meaningful work and careers.” Sara wants to encourage community leaders and organizations in every job sector to invest time and mentor our children. The power of mentors has made a difference in Sara’s own life and she recognizes her success is not only from her hard work, but because others took time to invest in her. She wants to help youth discover their innermost passions and forge their own paths by providing them with new experiences and resources to enrich their education. Finding the balance between learning, assessment, and graduation guidelines can be student centered and personal for every child.
As the first high school in Colorado to utilize a competency-based transcript, NLCS is paving the way for at-risk and underserved youth. Sara and her team have spent the past five years transitioning the curriculum and program for NLCS, under the Big Picture Learning model, to help teen parents and at-risk youth graduate with a college or career path already begun. Sara was recognized in December 2024 as the Big Picture Learning School Leader of the Year for the innovation she is leading in Colorado and alternative schools around the nation.