The teachers at Urban are passionate about the subjects they teach. They care deeply about offering students opportunities to also engage meaningfully with texts, with ideas, with research and writing. The teachers’ success in reaching their students is obvious to anyone who visits the school and sees the abundance of green plants growing in the horticulture room, the proliferation of art and photographs on the walls, the collections of student writing on display, and the sheer abundance of books everywhere. Teachers maintain libraries on subjects ranging from history, literature, and poetry to weaving, genetics, and jazz.

Rather than the typical English 1 or Chemistry 2 classes, Urban teachers design courses with intriguing twists: Looking for an Argument? (social studies), Little Big Books (English), If You Can Stand the Heat (science).

Urban teachers are always learning. They are models of inquiry—both as students of their disciplines and as teachers.