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Building 21 Allentown
Building 21 Allentown, nominated by NewSchools Venture Fund, is a high school in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that describes itself as a public district school serving learners from a primarily urban area.
Location Allentown, Pennsylvania
Governance Public District School
Grades High
Students 400
Locale Urban
School Leader Jose Rosado
Demographics
Percentage of students*
33%
English Learners
100%
Free/Reduced Lunch
—
Students with Disabilities
African American or Black 17%
American Indian/Alaska Native —
Asian —
Hawaiian or Pacific Islander —
Hispanic or Latino 71%
White 9%
2+ Races —
Why Building 21 Allentown was nominated
Building 21 Allentown is a non-selective competency-based high school in the Allentown School District. It is a new secondary model that seeks to facilitate an authentic learning experience that will address the unique social and academic needs of all learners.The Building 21 Allentown team will work closely with members of the local and school communities to carefully construct a robust network of online, offline, individual, small group, large group, skills-based, and applied learning opportunities to more effectively serve students of all types. Most importantly, the Building 21 model will develop teachers as guides and students as designers of their own pathways to graduation by giving them choice and voice about how, what, and where they learn.
Student experience design
The student experience at Building 21 Allentown is designed to be personalized, empowering, and relationship-driven—where students progress through competency-based learning at their own pace, supported by strong connections with educators who guide their academic and personal growth.
Core Practices
| Core Practices | Length of Use |
|---|---|
|
Advancement On Mastery |
5+ years
|
|
Student Advisories |
5+ years
|
|
Blended Learning |
3-4 years
|
|
Restorative Practices |
5+ years
|
|
Student-led Conferences |
3-4 years
|
All Practices
Assessments For Agency And Self-directed Learning
Assessments For Career Readiness
Assessments For Social-emotional Skills
Career Exploration
Community And Workforce Partnerships
Competency/mastery-based Education
Disaggregated Data On Student Participation
Early College High School
All Courses Designed For Inclusion
Individual Learning Paths
1:1 Mentoring
Multi-tiered System Of Support (MTSS) In Academics
No Tracked Classes
Peer To Peer Support
Performance Based Assessment
SEL Curriculum
SEL Integration School-wide
Service Learning
Students Access Their Own Data
Student-led Goal Setting
Students Develop Projects
Trauma-informed Practices
Universal Design For Learning
key reasons for innovating
Improve academic achievement
Improve school culture
Increase student agency
Date Updated: 4/1/2026
*Canopy profile data is self-reported or sourced from NCES data, then verified by school leaders.