Creek Walk (Ages 2–7)
2024-10-14 00:00 (America/Chicago)
Monday, October 14, 10–11 AM
At Green Acres, big adventures await little explorers! Families with children ages 2–7 are invited to join us on a walk to our campus creek. On this guided journey, you’ll make naturalist observations and explore one of Green Acres’ most treasured spots. Don’t miss this opportunity to see how our campus transforms into a classroom for our younger students.

PEN National Conference
2024-10-18 00:00
NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2026
October 2-4, 2026
(Pre-Conference Activities Available on October 1st & 2nd)
Columbus, Ohio Questions? Contact us at conference@progressiveeducationnetwork.org

Buy Conference Tickets

Submit a proposal for a session

Conference Theme

Last time we convened in Columbus, we explored ‘The Space Between’—the often-overlooked space where tension, ambiguity, and relationships live. We named it as the place where progressive education has always done its deepest work, even as traditional systems rushed toward efficiency and standardization.
Now our attention turns to Beyond the Edges. If The Space Between asked us to notice and inhabit what lies within existing systems, Beyond the Edges invites us to ask: What happens when the old edges themselves no longer hold? What comes after the versions of “traditional” and “progressive” education we’ve inherited?
At PEN 2026, an “edge” is:

A boundary – the place where one thing ends and another begins: the edge of a system, a role, a belief, a practice.

A threshold – a crossing point into what’s not yet known: where we step from the familiar into the experimental.

A marker – a line that shows us what we’ve inherited: the limits of traditional and even “classic” progressive education.

A tool – something we can use to define and redefine what can be in order to create new possibilities for learners.

An invitation – a place that calls us closer: come look here, come listen here, come step over this line.

Edges are the places where our current systems, stories, and practices end—and the next possibilities begin.
We gather to challenge the limits of both traditional and progressive frameworks and to co-create boundaryless, ethical ecosystems. This is an opportunity to embrace presence in a world competing for attention, to honor the realities of our classrooms today, and to prototype possibilities that can thrive beyond the edges—where humanity, equity, sustainability, and flourishing guide our work.
Together, we will explore, reinforce, and create ways we can:
Stay present and attend to nuance and complexity; ensuring learning is active, relational, and grounded in real humanity.
Engage learners in deep, authentic, purpose-driven experiences that connect to their lives, communities, and identities.
Commit to pushing, redrawing, and dissolving edges that no longer serve our students or our world, through experimentation, reflection, and collaboration as essential practices for future-ready learning.
Prototype intentionally imperfect ideas to move beyond the isolation and spark imaginative, collective action.
Transform education into a vibrant, living practice where learners are empowered to adapt, create, and drive positive change within their communities.
Previous Speakers
Since our 2007 conference in San Francisco, PEN has welcomed renowned speakers, each of whom has provided our attendees with the thought- provoking, inspiring, challenging and expansive experience of considering and re considering the meaning of progressive education, learning, creating, and teaching. Some of our past speakers have included scholars and artists, activists and advocates for progressive education:
Dr. Liza Talusan, José Vilson, Peter H. Reynolds, Mara Krechvesky, Stephanie Rond, Cynthia Amoah, Jason Blair, David Brown, Dr. Bettina Love, Sam Chaltain, Jesse Hagopian, Paul Gorski, Julian Randall, Sonia Nieto, The Honorable Justice Alan C. Page, Bill Ayers, Roland Barth, Augusta Souza Kappner, Dr. Pedro Nogera, Jonathan Kozol, Denisha Jones, Alfie Kohn, Deborah W. Meier, Linda Darling-Hammond, Francisco Guajardo, Curtis Acosta, Angela Davis, Jacqueline Woodson, Andrea Davis Pinckney, James Lecesne, Diane Ravitch, Fania Davis and more!

More information to come. Watch this space!

We are proud that Wickliffe Progressive Elementary is the host school for PEN 2026.
Read more about Wickliffe.

Questions? Contact us at conference@progressiveeducationnetwork.org

Discovery Day at Green Acres
2024-10-27 00:00
Sunday, October 27, 2–4 PM
Discover the incredible programs and people that define a Green Acres education at Discovery Day! You’ll have the opportunity to explore campus from the inside out, meet teachers, and even engage in some hands-on learning of your own. This is where we welcome you to learning as it should be!

Imaginative Inquiry Summer Institute 2025
2025-07-28 00:00 - 2025-07-31 00:00
Workshop participants will:

utilize active and creative methods to engage all students in authentic inquiry and critical thinking skills
reflect on how to deepen their anti-bias and social justice lens
see examples of how these methods work in the classroom
plan lessons around their curricular units of study
build a cohort of progressive educators and practitioners of Imaginative Inquiry
enhance their progressive practice by connecting their teaching of Social Studies to children’s innate ability to imagine and play

Course Breakdown:
Day 1 – Setting up the Framework for Imaginative Inquiry
Day 2 – Tools for Teaching an Imaginative Inquiry Lesson
Day 3 – Student Engagement in Imaginative Inquiry
Day 4 – Synthesis and Innovation

$1,400/person

includes: breakfast/refreshments, 4 Teacher Support Forum sessions in Fall 2025,
and a copy of The Beginner’s Guide to Mantle of the Expert (by Tim Taylor)

Registration Info:

Early Bird Registration and Discounts:
15% discount by April 4 (CODE: EARLYA)
10% discount by April 30 (CODE: EARLYB)
20% discount for public school educators (CODE: PUBLIC)

Discounts cannot be combined. Groups must register at the same time to receive discount.

Scholarships Award period is closed

Refund Policy: We can refund 50% of the registration fee (minus the administrative fee) up to 8 weeks prior to the start of the workshop, after which no refund will be provided.
