Building the Deep Thinking School
A two-day conference experience for principals, assistant principals, and instructional coaches ready to build a school where deeper thinking becomes the norm.
Two cities. One shared goal: turn ideas into consistent practice.
You will leave with a 45 day action plan for your school, built during the event with your team and sharpened alongside leaders doing the same work.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
September 30 to October 1, 2027
Cambria Hotel Fort Lauderdale Beach
Register for Fort LauderdaleSame powerful experience. Different featured voices.
Explore the Conference ↓The Idea
Are your students thinking deeply, every day?
Building a deep thinking school isn’t about adding another initiative. It’s about helping the adults in the building get better at the practices that cause students to question, reason, explain, connect, and think.
Deeper thinking doesn’t happen by accident.
Leaders create the conditions for it.
The Outcome
What You’ll Leave Ready to Do
Building a Deep Thinking School means developing the adults, systems, and instructional practices that make deeper student thinking possible.
And you won’t leave with just ideas.
Every participant will develop a focused 45 day implementation plan for one instructional practice they are ready to bring back to their school.
Who It’s For
This room was built for you.
Spark Curiosity EDU brings together the people closest to instructional improvement inside a school.
Principals
Build the conditions for strong instructional practice to take root across the school.
Assistant Principals
Turn classroom observations and coaching conversations into meaningful instructional improvement.
Instructional Coaches
Help teacher teams move from learning a practice to actually using, examining, and strengthening it together.
Come as a team. Leave with a system.
Principal + Assistant Principal + Instructional Coach
Because deeper thinking schools aren’t built by one leader working alone.
This Is Spark Curiosity
Don’t just take our word for it. Step inside the room.
See what happened when educators gathered to question, create, challenge assumptions, and rediscover what makes learning powerful.
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Every educator needs to be sparked to be reenergized, reignited, and reminded of the 'why' behind the work we do. Spark Curiosity provides that inspiration.
Ms. Claudine James
Veteran Educator & TikTok Influencer, @Iamthatenglishteacher
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Every student has the capacity to learn, but not every student has been given a reason to be curious. AI can transform the classroom, but it is the educator who ignites curiosity. Spark Curiosity invites us to turn confusion into curiosity, curiosity into engagement, and engagement into achievement.
Dr. Parnell Beaubrun
Psychologist, Educator & Administrator, NJ
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Spark Curiosity reinforced for me that deep thinking must be at the heart of the classroom. As leaders, we have to create space for teachers to reflect, take risks, and keep asking, 'What else can I try?'
Dr. Kim Abel
Head of School, Optima Academy Online
The Experience
Leave with a plan your team can put into practice.
This experience is designed to move from how leaders build the system to how they coach the practice.
Track One
The System
How do we create the conditions for deeper thinking to become part of how our school operates?
Track Two
The Practice
What does powerful instructional coaching actually sound and feel like?
You won’t just hear about instructional coaching. You’ll see it modeled, practice it, and examine what it looks like in action.
Every registration includes
- The two-day conference experience, Thursday and Friday
- All meals and refreshments during the scheduled event
- Your 45 day implementation plan, built before you leave
- A cohort capped at approximately 50 leaders per location, so every conversation counts
- Real access to facilitators and fellow school leaders
- Every attendee receives a complimentary copy of The Question-Driven Principal.
Thursday sessions begin in the afternoon. Hotel accommodations are purchased separately.
Lead Spark Team is the instructional improvement system leaders use throughout the year, and this experience shows you how it works live.
Why We Gather
Building a deep-thinking school starts with the people who lead learning.
Spark Curiosity EDU brings together principals, assistant principals, and instructional coaches who believe that meaningful school improvement begins with a simple question: How deeply are students thinking?
We create space for instructional leaders to connect, explore, discover, and exchange practical, research-informed approaches that strengthen teaching and inspire deeper student thinking.
In this personal reflection, our founder shares what made our first gathering so meaningful and why building a community of curious, committed leaders matters.
The Two Days
A two-day conference experience, built as one arc
Two tracks run through the middle of the day. The System is about the structures you build. The Practice is coaching itself, modeled in front of you. Together, they shape the 45 day implementation plan you build before you leave.
Austin, Texas | Cambria Hotel Austin Downtown
Shared Thursday and Friday agenda. Thursday sessions begin at 1:00 PM. Austin facilitators and local reception details will be announced.
May 6, 2027
1:00 to 2:15 PMOpening
We start together. Story, music, and a few honest questions about what it takes to be the person who sets the tone for thinking in a building. You will leave this hour knowing the people you are sitting with.
What would change in your building if every teacher felt as known as we hope to make you feel today?
2:25 to 3:35 PMLearning Lab 1
The structures that make collaboration real: who meets, about what, with which evidence, and what happens after. You will map your current system and find the pieces that are missing.
What's the one system in your building that, if it worked, would fix five other problems at once?
The topic and facilitator for this Learning Lab will be announced.
What is the one thing you know how to do that other leaders keep asking you about?
3:45 to 4:55 PMLearning Lab 2
We do the first move of a coaching cycle, live in the room, then take it apart together. Not a description of coaching. Coaching, in front of you.
When did you last practice coaching a teacher, instead of just hearing about it?
Belonging is not a poster or a morning meeting. It is a set of leadership habits that show up in how adults treat each other first. This session gets specific about those habits.
Who on your staff would say they belong, and who would hesitate before answering?
Thursday evening. Time to be confirmedNetworking Reception
Continue the conversation beyond the sessions. Join fellow school leaders for our Thursday evening networking reception, connect over shared challenges, and build relationships that support the work ahead.
Speakers
The room is being built one voice at a time.
Same powerful experience. Different featured voices. Additional speakers will be announced.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida | September 30 to October 1, 2027
Fort Lauderdale | September 30 to October 1, 2027
Olivia Odileke
Founder & CEO, Kampus Insights | Conference Host
Leads the system work and the coaching cycle sessions across both days.
Fort Lauderdale | September 30 to October 1, 2027
Ms. James
Award Winning Educator | 2023 National Grammar Educator of the Year
Opens the experience and leads the session on belonging as a leadership practice.
Fort Lauderdale | September 30 to October 1, 2027
Rodrick Johnson
The Energized Educator
Leads the behavior training, with practical routines that keep classrooms steady and students engaged.
Fort Lauderdale | September 30 to October 1, 2027
Stephanie Frenel
Founder & CEO, SchoolOpsAI
Leads the Learning Lab on matching questions, insights, and data to the real cause, so leaders design the right solution instead of treating symptoms.
More voices to be announced.
The room is being built one voice at a time.
The Venue
Two cities. Space to think.
The kind of meeting space that makes deep conversation feel natural, not forced.
Austin | May 6 to 7, 2027
Cambria Hotel Austin Downtown
68 East Avenue, Austin, TX 78701
Our returning conference venue, the same hotel used for last year’s conference.
Conference room-block rate: $190 per night
A three-night room block is available.
Conference hotel booking link coming shortly.
Explore the Hotel
Fort Lauderdale | September 30 to October 1, 2027
Cambria Hotel Fort Lauderdale Beach
2231 North Ocean Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Steps from the Atlantic, with the kind of meeting space that makes deep conversation feel natural, not forced.
Conference room-block rate: $125 per night
A three-night room block is available.
Conference hotel booking link coming shortly.
Explore the HotelAccommodations are purchased separately from conference registration. Hotel information links are separate from conference room-block booking links.
Registration
Make space for the work.
Austin, Texas | May 6 to 7, 2027
Solo Early Bird
$399
One leader
For the leader who decides early. One seat at the complete two-day experience: every session, every included meal, your 45 day plan, and focused thinking time with leaders who understand your work.
Save $100 compared with the regular solo price of $499.
Register Solo: AustinDuo Early Bird
$700
Package total for two team members
Bring the person who will implement the plan with you: your assistant principal, instructional coach, or teacher leader. Two seats for a shared experience, so the people who carry out the 45 day plan build it together.
$350 per person. Regular Duo: $800 package total.
Register Your Duo: AustinTrio early bird: $1,000 package total for three team members. Regular Trio: $1,200 package total.
Ask about Trio registrationSchool or district teams of four or more: Contact us for custom team pricing.
Hotel accommodations are purchased separately from conference registration.
Partners
Who we want in the room with school leaders.
We’re building this room carefully.
Spark Curiosity EDU isn’t a massive expo hall. We’re bringing together an intimate group of approximately 60 instructional leaders and a small group of organizations whose work can genuinely support the schools they’re leading.
Only ten partner organizations will be invited to participate.
We’re looking for partners who believe in:
- Deeper student thinking
- Teacher capacity
- Meaningful instructional improvement
- Human centered technology
- Strong school leadership
This isn’t about buying booth space.
It’s about being part of the right room.
Be Part of the Room
Build the plan together. Return ready to lead.
Join principals, assistant principals, and instructional coaches who are ready to move instructional improvement beyond compliance and into the daily practice of their schools.
Choose your city, bring your teammate, and make space to turn your school’s priorities into a practical 45 day plan.
This isn’t a conference to attend.
It’s a room to think in.