Nate McClennen

I’m passionate about our work because:
I believe that every person deserves extraordinary learning experiences which provide a path towards a purposeful life. In order to do this, learning must be personalized and relevant to each learner and deeply connected to meaningful experiences. 

My favorite learning experience is:
Starting from scratch to fix or build anything – like when I learned how to replace the heating element in a water heater and slowly realized that it was going to take much longer than I had anticipated.

My role in three words:
Constructing innovative learning.

I’m currently learning about:
The role of equity in place-based education, competency-based technology solutions, extended transcripts, replicable learning networks, measuring impact, social capital, the role of AI in learning and distributed ledgers. I’m also fascinated by strategy in high-level soccer. Go Chelsea!

I’m currently working on:
Strategic thinking around emerging school networks, codifying learning models and scaling thought leadership and implementation of place-based learning.

Bio

Nate McClennen is Senior Partner of Strategy at Getting Smart where he supports schools, districts, organizations, foundations, and universities to determine a strategic path forward based on the future of learning. His expertise and interests focus on expanded learning ecosystems, learning networks, technology-enabled personalized learning, project-based learning, real-world learning, purpose making, rural communities, equity, and place-based education. Nate has built two ed-tech solutions, helped found and lead a PK-12 school, served as Head of Innovation for a non-profit, taught math/science at multiple levels, supported multiple school launches, consulted nationally and internationally, and launched a rural-school network over his 25-year career. Nate is also the co-author of the book The Power of Place. For more publications by Nate, check out this link.

Prior to his role at Getting Smart, Nate was at the Teton Science Schools, a nationally-renowned leader in place-based education. Nate also served as RSC’s Northern Rockies hub contact and was the leader of Teton Science School’s Place Network Schools, a comprehensive K-12 blended-learning program that combines an online learning experience with a place-based approach that helps students better understand and engage in local rural communities.

Nate was part of the founding faculty at Teton Science Schools’ Journeys School in 2001 and was appointed Head of School in 2006. In 2015, Nate became the Vice President of Education and Innovation to focus on how to scale the impact of Teton Science Schools through technology, innovation, design learning, and school networks. Nate has been part of the leadership team at Teton Science Schools since 2011. Since 1993, he has taught science and math at the secondary level and science at university level. Nate received a Klingenstein Heads Fellowship in 2009 with Teachers College at Columbia University and taught as a field instructor for the graduate program in independent school leadership at Columbia University. He has served on various accreditation teams as part of Northwest Association of Independent Schools. During his recent years at Journeys School, Nate has taught calculus, IB Mathematics, leadership, and robotics. He also served as Director of College Counseling from 2006-2009. Nate believes that schools must connect students to communities in meaningful ways as a way to increase the capacity of the next generation. Outside of school he enjoys music, backpacking, biking, water sports, and soccer with his wife and two children.

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