What happens when a small K–8 school serves kids, teachers, and a university all at once? We invited Metcalf’s principal, assistant principal, and dean to pull back the curtain on lab school life: the fast pivots, the extra hats, and the reason everyone still calls it home.

We talk about the power of a zone-defense leadership model where roles overlap on purpose and coverage never breaks. That structure fuels an open-door culture: tough conversations stay collaborative, visibility stays high, and support reaches the right person fast.

Enjoy the episode? Follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a quick review to help more educators find these stories.

Send us a text

Hard to believe we are already looking ahead to next school year.

For families considering the lab schools, we have administrators from both buildings on this week's podcast to talk about the process. Andy and Ben have Andrea Markert and Dr. Carmen Bergmann to hear about the admissions processes, applications, and what our schools look for in an incoming class.

For more information about us we also have Prospective Student Open Houses:

- UHigh: January 28, 2026 at 6pm. Find out more at https://uhigh.illinoisstate.edu/.

- Metcalf: Find out more at https://metcalf.illinoisstate.edu/.

Send us a text

'Tis the Season! This week we get to vent a little and talk about some of the "Positive Frustrations" about being a teacher, being a teacher in this day and age, and finally just being a teacher.

We love our work; let the airing of the grievances commence!

Send us a text

This week on the show: you'll get to meet one of our former interns, Ricky King! He has gone on to do great things in his career, teaching locally in McLean County Unit District 5. Since Mr. Goveia also did the internship, it felt appropriate to check the pulse of our teacher preparation pillar of our mission.

We discuss how the internship/student teaching works at UHigh, how were Mr. King's final months (just a little bit) weird due to a thing called COVID-19, and what has he gone on to do since graduation as an ELS teacher.

Send us a text

Dr. Anthony Jones joins us on this episode to talk about his role as director of the lab schools.

Here we do a deeper dive into how we operate, how our mission plays out in practice, funding, and what rules we even have to follow. Are we a district? A public school? What even are we?!

Send us a text

What's a lab school? We have one of those? And so many more questions about the P-12 University Lab Schools we hope to address in this series.

Hello there! We are Andy Goveia and Ben Webb, teachers at the Illinois State University Laboratory Schools. Join us as we share what it is like work at University High School and Thomas Metcalf School. We will explore innovation, pedagogy, best practice, and so much more.

Send us a text