Big Picture Philadelphia

Big Picture Philadelphia, a not-for-profit organization serving the Metropolitan Philadelphia provides transformative educational experiences to under-served high school youth through proven, sustainable educational practices, thereby contributing to local education reform.Big Picture Philadelphia is an independent non-profit that grew out of the national organization: Big Picture Learning. We came to Philadelphia in 2008 to spearhead innovative public high school reform through the implementation of the internationally recognized BIG PICTURE model.

Our philosophy revolves around offering youth an education that is centered around their passions and interests. In general, our model is very practical and relevant to the skills and career aspirations of our students. We believe in a small classroom size, learning outside of the classroom – through internships and service learning- and the cultivation of strong, long-lasting relationships among peers and their teachers (for example, the BIG PICTURE model recommends that the same cohort of youth remain together throughout High School with the same teacher for all four years).

Big Picture Philadelphia has been working within the realm of education reform in Philadelphia since 2008. Our work with Camden began in 2005. Before this, the foundation for our work is based on Big Picture Learning's contribution to transforming schools nation-wide since 1995.