Most mornings, Maya begins her day like many high school students: finding her seat, opening her laptop, and diving into a lesson with her classmates. But for Maya, learning doesn’t end when the bell rings. After class, she walks to the public library, where she edits a podcast episode about her neighborhood’s history. Later, she heads to a university-run makerspace to prototype a new bike rack for use in her community. Before heading home, she meets peers at a nearby park to test water quality in the lake – a citizen-science effort requested by the city council, which has asked students to share their findings at an upcoming meeting.

In the evening, Maya logs into her digital portfolio to reflect on what she learned not only in class, but from her mentors, local partners, and peers who are shaping her ideas and supporting her learning journey across the community.

Maya’s day is a glimpse into a growing movement to create learning neighborhoods – places where schools open outward and communities step inward to help all young people discover their talents and purpose in the world.

For a long time, we’ve told a familiar – and too simplistic – story about education: that schools haven’t changed in a hundred years and that they operate separate from the communities around them. But that version of the story isn’t the whole picture. Many educators and school leaders have worked hard to evolve their practice – introducing new technology, personalizing instruction, and remaking learning experiences to respond to the needs of an ever-changing world.

Still, too many of today’s schools remain tethered to a structure built for a different era – one where learning was assumed to happen primarily inside a building, on a rigid schedule, and measured by a narrow set of outcomes. But the world has changed: physical and digital life blend together and the skills young people need – collaboration, critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and more – are shaped by experiences both in school and beyond it. 

This shift is about embracing what has long been true: learning happens everywhere. Learning neighborhoods build on that sensibility by connecting the places where young people live, play, and grow – from libraries and parks to small businesses and museums. When these spaces work together with intention, young people gain richer opportunities to explore their interests and imagine their futures.

In Southwestern Pennsylvania, this work has taken root through Remake Learning, a network of educators, technologists, researchers, community partners, and more, working together to make learning relevant, connected, and joyful. For 20 years, Remake Learning has widened the lens on what learning can look like, helping educators connect in-school and out-of-school experiences, bridge early learning through higher education, and explore new ideas from futurists and learning scientists. With two decades of experience supporting practices that are now becoming more common, Remake Learning has inspired more than 40 other such efforts in the United States and beyond.

In the Butler Area School District, for instance, located north of Pittsburgh, such local partners as the public library, YMCA, and arts organizations are transforming downtown into a hands-on classroom where students create, perform, and contribute to the city’s renewal. In the Northgate School District, a decommissioned hospital has been reimagined as a shared campus where students collaborate with healthcare professionals and emerging-tech partners in projects that blend wellness and innovation. And in the South Allegheny School District, the roar of planes overhead and their proximity to the county airport sparked a four-year aviation pathway for high school students – one that includes certification opportunities, flight-simulation experiences, and a direct runway to high-demand careers.

These school districts aren’t waiting for the future – they are building it. And they remind us that when learning stretches beyond the school walls and school day, young people don’t just gain skills. They gain connection and a sense of belonging to something bigger.

But even as these learning neighborhoods take shape, schools can only go so far on their own. While educators are creating new opportunities for young people, they are still asked to operate within systems set by mandates, regulations, and even mythistory connected to a different era.

 There is a profound mismatch between what students and society need and what schools are asked to measure – a mismatch driven by policies and post-secondary systems still anchored to traditional transcripts. Letter grades, seat time, and standardized tests often still define achievement, even as students demonstrate mastery in collaborative projects, service learning, and internships that rarely appear on a transcript.

That’s where the next leap in education must occur. The future of credentialing should reflect the full landscape of learning, that which happens in the school building, during the school day, but also the neighborhood beyond: in afterschool programs, apprenticeships, online, and even on athletic fields and courts. Imagine a student portfolio or learner wallet that grows with a learner over time, a living, portable record owned by the student themselves. This would capture not only what a young person knows, but how they apply their learning in authentic settings. Educators, community experts, and industry partners could all validate evidence of mastery. This kind of record could travel with a young person across schools, community organizations, work-based learning experiences, and eventually into higher education and employment – replacing the static transcript and illustrating the full journey of a learner and the social network they build along the way.

In that future, success isn’t defined by scores and marks. It is recognized because a broader community has seen a child’s potential, helped them pursue their purpose, and validated their accomplishments along the way.

The good news is we don’t have to wait for this future. It’s here right now. The learning neighborhoods we see today show what becomes possible when schools and communities design learning with young people rather than for them. We honor the ingenuity already alive in classrooms when we surround educators with partners who share their mission. And we give every child a neighborhood that believes in their future.

Maya’s world is not a fictional one. We see it – in Southwestern Pennsylvania and in communities far beyond our corner of the world. Our task is simple and profound: to see this learning, to support it, and to give it credit. Because when the whole community becomes a classroom, every learner gets the chance to flourish.