EXL Program

“ The administration continues to lead Davidson Day in a direction that proves it is one of the most sought-after schools in the area. ”
Duane & Pamela Greenwood
Upper School Parents

EXL Program

The EXL program, pronounced “Excel,” is a project-based learning experience that adds a real world dimension to your child’s education. When they join an EXL Impact group, students address a real issue or topic of interest such as pollution, the homeless, or human rights issues in Tibet. Such involvement helps to develop your child’s interests, talents, leadership, and critical thinking skills in solving meaningful real world issues. At its heart, EXL prepares students to understand and care about their world, affect change, and lead the way.

Lower School EXL Program

The EXL Impact Project Program starts in our Kindergarten classrooms, where students begin using their knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems. Working with City Council to save a failing local zoo … figuring out a way to save the fish in our local river … determining the best way to function as a team to complete a project successfully; these are just a few of the topics that Lower School students are tackling during their EXL class time. As the students work through the issues presented, they begin to see the relevance of what they are doing in class and its application to the real world.

Middle School EXL Program

The 2008 Presidential election provided an engaging point of focus for the EXL Impact Project Program in Middle School. Our students saw how propaganda and persuasion –- things they studied about in Language Arts through literature –- play a powerful role in politics. They also followed polls and predictions, and saw how numbers are used extensively in the real world.

Throughout the year, students are given the opportunity to choose an EXL simulation project that holds special interest for them. The topics can include dealing with international terrorism, developing a product or service for the local economy, exploring the issues surrounding reliance on petroleum, and other timely issues. The experience of working on projects like these helps to show how knowledge gained in school is applied in real life.

Upper School EXL Program

By 9th grade, our students have reached an age when they can show even more leadership in tackling the tough social issues of our times. They have a strong voice in choosing the EXL initiatives they feel most passionate about pursuing –- whether it’s fighting poverty in our own community or creating awareness of genocide taking place in a distant country.

We work with them to focus their efforts, channel their enthusiasm, and put resources at their disposal. A few of the EXL programs being explored in our Upper School include the Wade-Edwards Mock Trial program, which allows students to experience the court process in civil law … CSI-DDS, an introductory forensic science program … and World, an interactive experience where students build their own country from the bottom up.

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