This week, we are excited to profile the extraordinary Emily Whalen, director of Next Charter School and board member for the New Hampshire Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
Emily Whalen grew up on a small farm in upstate New York, but she began her career in education out at sea. She worked in the sail training industry, teaching kids about boats and the ocean. She even lived on a boat.
Driven by her passion for marine life and the environment, Emily relocated to New Hampshire to pursue a master’s degree in environmental science along with a teaching certification. She loved working with students and began teaching middle school science in a New Hampshire public school district.
A few years in, Emily was craving a more nimble, personalized experience for students. “I didn’t want to feel like I was on a march through the textbook,” she said.
She read an article in her local newspaper that a charter school was opening nearby. She seized the opportunity—and cold called the directors of the school. Next Charter School in Derry, New Hampshire hired Emily as a science teacher in 2013.
‘Big ships cannot, by their nature, turn on a dime’
The Derry Cooperative School District (DCSD) partnered to create Next. DCSD leaders recognized that the large local high school was best serving some students. By adding a charter school, they sought to offer their community an option that provided a more tailored approach. With this, leaders thought the community would be able serve all of its children better. After presenting the charter application to the New Hampshire State Board of Education in 2011, Next and DCSD leaders had to present their plan to the voters of Derry in 2012. They approved.
Emily fully embraced this idea, and it has remained central to the Next model for more than a decade.
“Our mission is that we offer personalized learning experiences to students who are underserved in a traditional setting,” she said. “Some schools are arts-focused, or STEM—we don’t have a curricular focus. Our focus is on individual students and individualized learning plans that are tailored to each student.”
Next provides students with significant flexibility, as there is no single defined pathway for everyone. Instead, the school intentionally empowers students to create their own personalized plans for high school and beyond.
The emphasis on individualization—and the positive partnership with DCSD—is reflected even in Next’s charter renewal:
“The traditional education system, as currently designed, cannot serve all students equally well. It is too big and is responsible for doing too much. And big ships cannot, by their nature, turn on a dime. Nor can they possibly meet the unique and changing needs of all their passengers. The end result for school systems is that some students are not well served…The relationship between Derry and Next is unique, in that the Derry Cooperative School District is a founding partner of Next and the two organizations work collaboratively to meet the needs of a small constituent group. This partnership has evolved but continues to be integral to the success of Next Charter School.”
‘They want to be part of something’
Students have diverse interests and various reasons for seeking a different educational experience. However, they share one crucial thing in common—they all choose to be at Next.
“We have all different kinds of students and the thing that really brings them together is that they want to be part of something,” Emily said. “The number one thing that will make a student successful at our school is that they want to be a part of our school.”
Next uses a project-based approach to instruction and assessment, which is designed to tangibly connect students with content or skills that prepare them for life after high school (something Jed has written about previously).
Every student must “opt in” to learning experiences at Next. So, they spend about 25 days working on one project and demonstrating competency in that project. Then, they begin a new endeavor. Emily have even actively modeled this industrious pursuit of curiosity herself.
“We don’t have traditional grades here because a kid can try something, and if it doesn’t work at the end of the week, you’re not giving them a failing grade, you’re just like okay, where do we go from here? And that’s where creativity flourishes,” Emily said. “All of those things come when you have excellent teachers and then you put kids in a situation where they can be curious, ask questions and are empowered.”
Next’s model has successfully supported many students and families, expanding from 30 students in grades 9-10 in 2013 to 80 students in grades 9-12 by 2024. In fact, Next has graduated more than 100 students, with many enrolling in college or vocational programs.
‘Belonging is really important’
Next also emphasizes students’ role in their larger community by encouraging time outside the school building. For instance, students participate in overnight field trips, such as a recent adventure where Next rented an uninhabited island, a boat and camped onshore. It was some students’ first time camping or spending significant time away from home.
“We really want students to be part of the Next community and the Derry community and then, of course, citizens of the world, so we go on lots of field trips,” Emily said. “Belonging is really important. Loneliness is in the news, so we are always trying to create opportunities for kids to connect to each other.”
Existing as an ecosystem
Emily’s experience at Next has affirmed the value of the charter school model to her.
“Because we’re so small, it’s safe to experiment here,” she said. “We have tried so many different things over the years. If we want to try something, we just try it. And we learn about the impacts from the changes we make. And others can learn from that too.”
From Emily’s view, the relationship that Next has with DCSD—which has existed from the very beginning—is critical to both the success of Next and to the success of the district.
“The district schools in our town have adopted our model for morning and afternoon meetings. We’ve done trainings with them on this. But you’re not just going to experiment in a district of 30,000 people. But you can do that in a charter school and then help others,” she said. “If we’re educating kids, we’re all on the same team.”
Emily encourages other charter school leaders to draw on that collaborative ideal and lean on others in the education community.
“You need a support network; you need to bring people on board and have open conversations. You just can’t do it alone. There’s synergy that comes from working together,” she said. “Trying to exist in isolation is not happening. We have to exist as an ecosystem. We all play a different role, whether you’re charter, private, religious, whatever. Having that mindset—that we’re an option for kids who want it—really helps. We want an inclusive community where all kids can come, feel safe and supported, grow—and then are ready for what’s next.”