Flintridge Prep faculty and staff are learners first, driven by insatiable curiosity and a genuine love of discovery. They participate in robust professional development, with the school committing $220,000 in funds for professional development last year. The result is a faculty body that inspires each other and our students. We’ll be sharing their stories periodically throughout the year.

Dr. Lauren Van Arsdall teaches all levels of French. After using professional development funds in 2022 to create virtual reality “field trips” to francophone countries, Van Arsdall is now extending the project into a storytelling program. Her new question: "How can we transition from consuming immersive experiences to creating them?"

Scalable for all French levels, Van Arsdall’s new curriculum, which will launch next semester, will connect student-created stories with UN Sustainable Development Goals. "I want students to understand why something matters for a test, yes, but also why it matters to them," she says.

Since she introduced VR technology at Flintridge Prep, the headsets have been used across campus by several academic departments, demonstrating how one person’s curiosity can have a ripple effect. Van Arsdall has presented twice on the topic at the California Language Teachers Conference, most recently in October with Mandarin teacher Grace Qing. Spanish teacher Dr. Jovana Gomez presented at the same conference.