The British International School of Chicago, South Loop Announces Partnership with Startup Studio

The British International School of Chicago, South Loop (BISC-SL), a Nord Anglia Education school serving kids from Preschool through grade 12, is proud to announce its partnership with the Startup Studio, a Florida limited liability company, as part of continuing its ongoing global mission to bring real and sustainable change inside of education. 

The British International School of Chicago, South Loop (BISC-SL), a Nord Anglia Education school serving kids from Preschool through grade 12, is proud to announce its partnership with the Startup Studio, a Florida limited liability company, as part of continuing its ongoing global mission to bring real and sustainable change inside of education.

The Startup Studio is a solutions company that has come to the market to serve exclusive education partners who are interested in bringing real and meaningful innovation to their students. Learn to Start is The Startup Studio’s one-of-a-kind curriculum and is a powerful solution that promises to bring students the three essential outcomes of Empowerment, Performance, and Wellness - the three promises of Learn to Start. All of this is accomplished by giving students access to the entrepreneur’s journey as the best discipline by which to allow them to experience risk and failure, two critical components often missing inside of their high school experience.

The company was Founded by Gary Conroy, a serial entrepreneur, who began by developing the program in 2014 for Windermere Preparatory School, a Nord Anglia School situated in Windermere, Florida. “Entrepreneurship is a life skill that takes many years to develop,” said Conroy. It is a learn by failure discipline, and it must begin with story and understanding who you are and what it is you are passionate about. The foundation of Entrepreneurship Education needs to be about long-term mentorship and experiential learning. Our goal is not to make students into entrepreneurs but rather to use the discipline of entrepreneurship as the best tool to help students build the skills and mindsets they need to be successful in this 21st century world.”

For 19 years, the British International School of Chicago, South Loop school has offered personalized education to students aged 3 to 18 under one roof. Their Highest Quality Learning approach, combined with the finest teachers in the world, raises the ambitions of every child through personalized instruction and international curriculum. Students become inspired within a culture of international diversity and respect. The school day is an engaging combination of exciting and fun, and serious and focused, enabling students to Be Ambitious in and out of the classroom.

The world-class curricula of BISC-SL prides itself on preparing students for a dynamic market and to keep track with the technological advancements. The students are prepared for college and beyond. They are taught skills that are required for innovation in the economy. This skill-based approach explores the idea of sharing and negotiating, enhancing the social skills of the students influencing their personalities like building empathy and cooperation. By the time the students complete their high school graduation from BISC-SL, they are awarded the prestigious International Baccalaureate Diploma (IBDP). The IBDP is different from normal high-school diplomas, it is a degree that sets the student apart on transcripts and resumes, signifying well-rounded global citizens that colleges and workplaces around the world are seeking.

Being a member of Nord Anglia Education, a family of premium education institutes around the world, BISC-SL students benefit from enriched curricular. The curricula includes the school’s collaborations with The Juilliard School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and UNICEF.

Adam Johnson is the program instructor at BISC-SL. A teacher of Business Studies, he has extensive experience in coordinating cross- curricular enterprise activities and facilitating the use of enterprise in teaching and learning. “Teaching quality, in my opinion, is seen with a continuous improvement attitude at British International School of Chicago. We are constantly learning and evolving our teaching strategies to provide the highest quality learning. Having The Startup Studio added into our school curriculum will help our students develop their entrepreneurial skills giving them the ability to generate innovative ideas and react effectively to external change. I’m so excited to teach this course next year as it will allow us to develop entrepreneurship within the school community.”

“We are at the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution and the way we live, work, and interact will be vastly different to the past” said Andrew Gilhooly, Head of Secondary School at BISC-SL. “Students in the 21st century need different skills when compared to previous generations if they are to be successful in life. Having a curriculum that incorporates risk-taking, failure, problem solving, innovation, and learning to work in a team, are key skills that will help our students both now and in the future. We believe that The Startup Studio is the ideal platform to help our students to develop these important skills.”

“One of the advantages of belonging to a family of schools like Nord Anglia is that it is possible to cherry-pick some of the really successful courses being offered elsewhere and bring them to BISC-SL” said Mike Henderson, Principal at BISC-SL. “The Startup Studio is absolutely one of these courses, having made a massive impact on our two Florida schools over the last few years and I am really excited for them to be introduced here this year.”

“We are so excited to bring our program to Chicago and to serve the BISC-SL community as we work together to bring meaningful change to how the students there learn and prepare for a very unpredictable world” said Anantasia Hall, Director of Curriculum and Training at The Startup Studio.