To the average teenager, high school is alienating, boring, and purposeless. A chore rather than an adventure, something to endure rather than revel in. We've visited hundreds of high schools, talked to thousands of students, and observed thousands of classrooms. We've come to believe that reimagining the student learning experience is the solution to the central problems that plague high school education—inequity, student disengagement, and a lack of preparedness for postsecondary success.

This paper outlines our vision for transformative learning experiences - high-quality learning opportunities crafted to explicitly center, challenge, and engage young people. It presents the core components of a high quality learning experience and delves into why a focus on both rigor and purpose is essential.

Transformative learning happens when schools cultivate young people's natural curiosity and leverage their abundant passion to pique their interest in answering real-world questions. It happens when students from every background and culture are presented with challenges that have personal resonance, giving each student an entry point to complex material and providing them with an opportunity to acquire and practice skills that they want and need.

Let's ensure high school is a place where students fall in love with learning, feel energized by their assignments, and develop a sense of who they are, and why what they are learning matters.

Let's make high school meaningful.