Willington Public Schools: Building a Year-Long PBL Foundation

Case Study

Client: Willington Public Schools, Willington, Connecticut (PreK-8)
Date: 2022–2024 School Years

The Challenge

Willington Public Schools wanted to move beyond surface-level projects and build a sustainable, high-quality PBL program across the district. With a small staff and significant content to cover, teachers needed structured support to:

• Develop a shared understanding of quality PBL.
• Plan rigorous, standards-aligned projects without sacrificing core curriculum.
• Receive ongoing coaching and resources throughout the year.
• Successfully launch and reflect on projects (scheduled for February–April due to pacing needs).

The Solution

CraftED Curriculum partnered with Director of Curriculum & Instruction, Erin Conley to design a multi-year, blended support package.

• Full-Day Onsite Launch Workshop (“Back to School with PBL”) in August 2022.
• Year-Long Book Study using Keep It Real with PBL.
• Virtual Project Coaching and workshops (including Assessment 2.0 and Reflection & Refinement).
• PBL Certificate e-courses and book materials for all participating teachers.
• Structured Timeline with clear deliverables leading to project implementation.

This comprehensive approach combined initial calibration, self-paced learning, and just-in-time coaching.

Implementation Highlights

The August onsite launch featured:

• Driving Question and Knows/Need to Knows.
• Defining High-Quality PBL using Block Party protocol, Looking at Student Work, and quality lenses.
• Brainstorming and planning time (Essential Questions, Final Products, Rubrics).
• Reflection and next steps.

The year-long plan included:

• Monthly book study chapters with targeted activities (mapping to Portrait of a Graduate, co-creating rubrics, cross-discipline brainstorming).
• Virtual project coaching sessions to refine plans before the February launch.
• Follow-up virtual workshops for assessment and reflection.

This scaffolded structure helped teachers build projects incrementally while staying grounded in their curriculum pacing.

The Results

Willington teachers successfully planned and implemented high-quality PBL units in the spring of 2023. The partnership created:

• Stronger district-wide alignment on what quality PBL looks like.
• Teacher confidence and capacity through coaching and resources.
• A clear, sustainable timeline that respected content demands.
• Momentum for continued PBL work, including planning for a second project in 2023–24.

The structured, ongoing support model proved especially effective for a smaller district looking to embed PBL deeply and thoughtfully.

This engagement demonstrates a thoughtful year-long PBL implementation plan by blending calibration, book study, coaching, and reflection. CraftED can help districts successfully launch meaningful Project Based Learning, even with tight curriculum timelines.

Contact Jenny at jenny@craftedcurriculum.com to explore a custom PBL calibration workshop, summer planning support, or ongoing coaching package.