Getting to Know MUSE Global School Five Pillars
MUSE Global School first opened its doors in 2006, but that’s not where our story begins. The true beginning of MUSE came when our Founder, Suzy Amis Cameron, got tired of watching her children struggle in conventional schools. Confident there was a better way, Suzy teamed up with her husband, filmmaker and MUSE Global School cofounder James Cameron, and her sister, Rebecca Amis, to build something better.
Suzy, James, and Rebecca worked with specialists to develop a state-of-the-art, science-based approach to education that would provide an outstanding education while helping children develop more. They developed a child-centered model that teaches children how to become better citizens of the world. A program that isn’t bogged down by the dogma of traditional learning models. Thus, the Five Pillars were born.
In this blog post, we will dive into the Five Pillars that make up the foundation of MUSE Global School, so you can appreciate what sets our school apart.
1. THE FIRST PILLAR: ACADEMICS
When it comes to education, academics play a huge part in the culture of a school, and MUSE Global School is no exception. Our students thrive in our internationally recognized, award-winning, and academically rigorous curriculum. As an accredited member of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, MUSE undergoes an intense annual self-evaluation and peer review process that focuses on our students’ outcomes.
Unlike traditional schools, our students are assessed by Blueprints rather than report cards, which contain narratives written by their teachers and grade-specific academic standards, goals, and achievements that the student sets, ensuring their participation and buy-in.
Across all grade levels, students can meet with their teachers and our outstanding counselors to ask questions, collaborate, and navigate their school experience. Upon entering high school, MUSE Global School students work with counselors in our You Prep program to prepare them for whatever comes next. Whether they’re going to college or joining the workforce, we want to be sure that our students are ready for life after MUSE!
2. THE SECOND PILLAR: PASSION-BASED LEARNING
At MUSE Global School, we want our students to be engaged in their learning. That’s why we use our patented Passion-Based Learning model to create learning opportunities that are challenging, individualized, and unique. Our students are encouraged to explore their academics through the lens of their interests and passions to learn at a deeper and more meaningful level.
One way that we do this is through Culminations. From Kindergarten through high school, MUSE Global School students use what they’ve learned in their academics to dive deeper into one specific passion each semester. They then use the skills they’ve developed to build a presentation on their chosen subject that they present to their fellow students, teachers, and the MUSE community. And these passion projects can be about anything! Some former topics include French cooking, Charles Darwin, hockey, jiujitsu, time travel, and Legos.
MUSE students are also encouraged to explore new passions through our Specialist Programs. These elective courses cover everything from plant-based cooking and visual arts to theater, languages, leadership, and human rights. Another way students discover passions is by participating in international and domestic travel with some of these programs, like our recent service learning trip to Guatemala with our long-time partner Mending Kids.
3. THE THIRD PILLAR: SELF-EFFICACY
One of the most important parts of having a successful student is teaching them how to believe in themselves. That’s why self-efficacy is one of the pillars on which MUSE Global School is built. Self-efficacy is belief in your ability to perform the task set before you or manage whatever situation you find yourself in.
Having a higher sense of self-efficacy can affect students in many ways. Higher levels of self-efficacy are linked to higher motivation, greater resilience, and a lower vulnerability to things like stress, anxiety, or depression. Studies also show that self-efficacy is as good a predictor of academic success as IQ.
4. THE FOURTH PILLAR: COMMUNICATION
What good are these skills without the ability to communicate that knowledge? At MUSE Global School, we use the Process Communication Model (PCM) to teach our students how to communicate with the world around them effectively.
Developed by Dr. Taibi Kahler, PCM is a platform that helps the user understand how and why people communicate. It empowers our students to observe and understand their own behavior, including how their motivation and mood can change it, understand the behavior of others and how you can effectively communicate with them, and helps them analyze conflict and miscommunication so that they can more easily find a resolution to get back to effective communication.
But that’s still not enough! We’re so dedicated to the pursuit of good and effective communication that we offer free Parent Workshops to teach our MUSE parents how they can communicate effectively, too.
5. THE FIFTH PILLAR: SUSTAINABILITY
At MUSE Global School, we’re committed to caring for our wild, living Earth and all our students’ health. That’s why we’ve made so many steps towards making our Calabasas, CA campus as green as possible! We’re proud of our commitment to sustainability, from our robust recycling program to the sustainably sourced building materials used to build our school and beyond. MUSE even boasts five beautifully constructed solar sunflowers that offset our daily power usage by as much as 90%.
Our students also help by monitoring our classroom resource use, participating in Food Energy Water projects, and by tending the many raised vegetable gardens across our campus. The food we grow is used in our MUSE Global Cafeteria, recently named the Greenest Restaurant of 2023 by the Green Restaurant Association!
CONCLUSION
At MUSE Global School, we believe that our world-class academics, passion-based learning, and commitment to teaching our students to believe in themselves, communicate better, and care for the Earth set us apart from other schools, and we wouldn’t want it any other way.
To learn more about MUSE Global School, check out our Frequently Asked Questions. And when you’re ready to join the MUSE Family, click HERE to apply now!
