Chaminade High School
Reimagining the High School Classroom: the 1st Noro Classroom
School Profile
Chaminade is a private Catholic high school in New York known for academic rigor and innovation. In 2024, after a successful Global Learning Lab with Shared_Studios, the school became the first in the world to install a permanent Noro Classroom. What began as a one-month experiment has become a core part of Chaminade’s academic strategy, spanning disciplines and grade levels.
The Experience
Today, Chaminade’s Noro Classroom is used up to six times per week across 24 different courses—from AP Literature to Engineering to Spanish Language and Culture. Each session connects students with communities and experts around the world in real time, giving them a direct, personal understanding of global issues and perspectives.
Courses have explored topics like colonization, migration, environmental change, and identity through immersive, dialog-based learning. In one project-based learning unit, students conducted comparative research on colonial histories by engaging with people in formerly colonized nations across Africa—gathering lived experiences and reflecting on their implications. Other classes have connected with Spanish speakers in Nigeria, engineers in Brazil, and climate experts in Jakarta.
The impact has been profound. Teachers report that students engage more deeply with complex material and demonstrate stronger critical thinking and empathy. Shared_Studios works closely with a single Chaminade liaison to develop custom sessions that align with each course’s goals, minimizing teacher prep time and ensuring relevance to the curriculum.
The Results
The Noro Classroom has redefined what’s possible in a high school setting—fostering global fluency, enhancing curriculum delivery, and giving students the tools to see themselves in a global context.
Student Outcomes
Used ~5 times weekly across 24 classes, reaching ~150 student experiences per week
Project-based learning and global discussions deepen understanding of course content and connect abstract concepts to real-world lived experience
Faculty Outcomes
Faculty across language, history, art, and science disciplines integrate the Noro Classroom into existing coursework
Teachers report greater student engagement, improved understanding, and more meaningful classroom discussions
Streamlined program design handled by Shared_Studios reduces faculty workload and lowers barriers to global learning
Faculty Reflections
“What we can do with the Portal and how that helps shape the evolution of our curriculum—it really blows the ceiling off what a modern high school can be.”
— Robert O’Keefe, Assistant Principal for Curriculum
“The Portal facilitator was able to make my students understand concepts I’ve never been able to get across in 20 years of teaching history—just by speaking to them from her own, lived experience.”
— Gregory Kay, Chief Academic Officer
What’s Next
With the Noro Classroom now a signature part of the Chaminade experience, the school is continuing to expand its use—designing new interdisciplinary sessions, piloting more project-based learning units, and reaching more students each term.