Da Vinci Schools in Los Angeles was recently recognized nationally for their innovative work in real-world and project-based learning with a Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) grant, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. With an initial grant of $150,000, and the opportunity to raise another $300,000 that is eligible for a match from NGLC, Da Vinci is one of only 8 projects selected nationwide so far under NGLC’s Wave IIIa: Breakthrough School Models for College Readiness, a bold challenge to educators, innovators, and leaders to use technology to stimulate and scale the development of comprehensive, new learning models that improve college readiness and completion rates in the U.S. Originally launched in June 2010, to date the NGLC Program has awarded 48 grants totaling $18 million, with an additional $12 million available in Wave III.

The NGLC grant will help fund the start-up of a new Da Vinci charter high school in 2013 with a “blended learning” instructional approach that combines online learning with hands-on, project-based learning in the classroom, resulting in more personalized, mastery-based learning. Details of the new school, including location and staffing, are still in the planning stages.

Read more here.