EP 5: Not Your Average High School: How Bard Early College is Rewriting the Diploma Track

Today's Syllabus:

What happens when we stop seeing high school and college as separate worlds? In this episode, host LaShawn Springer chats with Dr. Siska Brutsaert, principal of Bard High School Early College Bronx, about how their innovative dual enrollment model is disrupting the traditional diploma track and empowering students to take on college-level coursework before they’ve even turned 18.

We explore how Bard creates a “place to think” by hiring mission-driven faculty, cultivating a deep sense of student agency, and building a supportive learning community where teenagers thrive through academic rigor. Whether you're an educator, administrator, or just someone who believes students are capable of more, this episode is your invitation to rethink what high school can be.

🧠 What You’ll Learn

• How Bard High School Early College blends high school and college into one transformative experience

• Why trusting students with real intellectual responsibility changes everything

• How informal writing and faculty workshops build rigorous, yet supportive, classrooms

• The power of community in reducing academic stress and competition

• Why scaffolding skills like time management and self-advocacy can be just as important as content mastery

This podcast is brought to you by Macmillan Learning.

📖 Required Reading

Learn more about Bard High School Early College Bronx: https://bhsec.bard.edu/bronx/

Check out the podcast producer, Macmillan Learning https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us

BFW Publishing Group: https://www.bfwpub.com/high-school/us

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📞If this episode got you thinking differently about dual enrollment, trust, or how we build real-world readiness into our classrooms—we want to hear about it. Drop us a voicemail at [phone]. We might feature your voice in a future episode.

📨 If you have an idea for a show or would like to be a guest, send us an email at: [e-mail].

For more information about our hosts, you can visit us here. https://go.macmillanlearning.com/the-what-and-who-of-edu#about