On a typical afternoon in early October, Blair students in sweatshirts and shorts stream off the playing fields, grab their backpacks and buckle down to study after athletic practices and dinners. Shifting gears, many settle into a quiet spot with their books and computers and focus on plowing through one task: getting their homework done for tomorrow.  

Blair’s Dean of Academics Nathan Molteni recognizes that hammering out the speech assigned for English or cramming for a chemistry quiz is important, but learning at Blair, he says, is about much more than crossing homework quickly off the to-do list. “Our mission is to make sure that when students leave Blair, they walk away with the best tools for a lifetime of learning,” Mr. Molteni said of the School’s approach to executive-functioning and organizational skills. “It’s not just about learning how to get your homework done. It’s about learning how to navigate academics at Blair and arming students with the tools they’ll need for the next chapter of their educational journey–and throughout life.”

First in the Nation
With that goal in mind, Blair became the first school in the country to roll out a pioneering new academic program for students this fall. From St. Andrew’s Episcopal School’s Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning, the Neuroteach Global program is a self-paced, online course that helps young learners develop better strategies for studying—both at Blair and beyond. After piloting the program with a focus group of Blair students last spring, Mr. Molteni saw promising results. “Each year, new students arrive on campus with different levels of confidence and skill sets, and our job is to help them find out where they are and how they learn best,” he explains. “This program uses neuroscience, research-backed tips and tricks and gamified modules to support students in figuring out how they learn best.” 

In 2022-2023, every ninth grader at Blair will complete the program as part of their first year, delving into an introduction, plus five modules with topics including remembering what you read, how to study, taking the test, getting the most out of class and retaining what you learn for the long term. 

Backed by Research
In one early lesson, for example, students try spacing out their study sessions. “Instead of studying the night before, students will try spreading it out three times in the week leading up to a test,” Mr. Molteni says. Neuroscience backs up this learning strategy; more than a century of research demonstrates that spacing out study sessions over a longer period of time improves retention by moving information from our short-term memory to our long-term memory. “While there is value in preparing for a test the night before, students retain more by spreading that studying out. This program affirms some of the strategies that kids take, while trying to get them to evolve and grow in new strategies.” 

Exposing Blair students to methods that incorporate research-based principles of learning is intended to improve their retention of material, make them more effective studiers and reduce anxiety about the learning process—a feeling that some students adjusting to a boarding school environment for the first time do experience. The most important benefit of the Neuroteach Global program, Mr. Molteni believes, is that it helps Blair students learn how to learn.

“Being an effective learner carries far past high school,” he stresses. “Understanding how your brain works will help you be more intentional about the choices you make in college, in your career and throughout life.” And that’s a skill students won’t quickly forget.