Inside Schools

Stories of how schools think, build, and evolve

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Read by 250,000 educators and school leaders worldwide

Over the last ten years, I've visited more than 100 schools and worked closely with thousands more around the world. Many of them have changed how I think about what a school can be.

That's why I'm starting Inside Schools, where every month I will share a story from a school that has made a design choice worth understanding. The goal is simple: to share real examples of how schools are thinking, building, and evolving.

I hope these stories inspire you the way they've inspired me!

Deepanshu Arora
Co-founder & CEO, Toddle

8th September, 2026 Vector icon African Leadership Academy

The school that finds and grows Africa’s future leaders

African Leadership Academy looks beyond titles and achievements to find young people already demonstrating responsibility, resilience and initiative. It then spends two years developing that potential, making leadership part of what students study, how they live together and the responsibilities they take on. And its relationship with students continues long after they graduate.

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The school where service runs through everything

At UWCSEA, service is woven into learning from kindergarten to Grade 12. Students build the skills, relationships and responsibility to contribute meaningfully to their communities, making service not something alongside learning, but part of the learning itself.

The school where teachers
design their own
professional growth

At Munich International School, every teacher spends the year investigating a question about their practice, collaborating with colleagues, and sharing what they learn. The inquiry itself becomes their professional growth and appraisal.

The school that turned reading into a celebration

At Neev Academy, reading is built through personalised journeys for each student, dedicated specialists, and a school-wide culture that extends from the classroom to India's largest children's literature festival.

The school where culture does the work of strategy

At Western Academy of Beijing (WAB), strategy is built through shared language, community participation, and values that have guided the school for more than thirty years.

The school where teachers write their own evaluations

The Mount Vernon School in Atlanta evaluates teachers the same way it evaluates students: through competencies, choice, and living portfolios built over the year.