About
Fiercely optimistic
Our mission is to help students hone the design thinking aptitudes and changemaking attitudes needed to challenge both emerging and entrenched social and environmental issues.
Pictured: 11th graders learning about urban oil drilling at Liberty Hill Foundation.
Beyond raising awareness
Zines, podcasts, social media campaigns, pop-up events, lesson plans, business ventures—whatever it is, students need to design a research-informed theory of change to make systemic impact.
Pictured: 9th and 10th graders doing door-to-door research on hard-to-count Census populations in Pasadena business corridor.
Real-world skills, in the real world
Through workplace visits, communication skills workshops, and informational interviews, students have weekly practice at developing long-term relationships with people—both the empowered and the systematically disempowered.
Pictured: 11th and 12th graders at annual Creative Connections networking event
Sustainable Change
Making large-scale change that will last for years to come means developing projects that strive for social, economic, and environmental sustainability. We address root causes by talking with local policymakers, social entrepreneurs, and organizers.
Pictured: 9th and 10th graders visiting the L.A. Mayor’s Innovation Team to learn about recent accessory dwelling unit policy.
Galvanizers
We graduate students who not only imagine the future they want, but are able to convince others to join them in making it a reality.
Pictured: 9th and 10th graders presenting proposed policy changes regarding refugee resettlement to nearby U.S. Adv. Placement History class.
100%
of 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders participate in SIP for one full afternoon every week
13
faculty members lend a diversity of expertise as SIP facilitators
9
students serve as program advisors on the SIP Stewardship Committee
150+
visits take place each year, many organized by students
Not just an extra-curricular
Inaugural cohort visits Los Angeles City Hall (2016)
The Social Innovation Program (SIP) was Sequoyah School’s response to the provocation, “how might we design a high school program that builds off of our reputation for experiential learning and an imperative for social justice?” SIP was founded in 2016, the same year Sequoyah School opened its high school campus.
We had many unique advantages in building a program alongside the founding of the school. Since the beginning, we’ve incorporated 2.25 hours of SIP into the weekly schedule for all students, we’ve involved all faculty members as SIP facilitators, and we’ve included SIP as a graduation requirement for all students. Social innovation runs deep in our school community.