Franklin School in Jersey City, New Jersey, has been named the 2025 winner of the World’s Best School Prize for Innovation, making history as the first U.S. institution to earn the award in that category.
The announcement was made Tuesday by T4 Education, which each year honors schools across the globe that are transforming education and making an impact beyond the classroom. Franklin, an independent high school that opened four years ago, is the first New Jersey school ever to be recognized with a World’s Best School Prize.
The 2025 World’s Best School Prizes were awarded in five categories — Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives. In the Innovation category, Franklin School was the only North American school on the list of finalists, which included schools in Chile, India, Italy, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, the UAE, the U.K., and Sweden.
Franklin earned the distinction for its technology-driven, student codesigned learning model, which places students at the center of their own education. The approach is anchored by the school’s Fab Lab, a state-of-the-art space where technology and design are integrated across disciplines, enabling students to build advanced skills and develop long-term workforce-level projects with real-world applications.
“Being named the World’s Most Innovative School is more than just an award, it’s proof of what happens when visionary educators and fearless students cocreate learning, harness breakthrough tools, and reimagine education itself,” said Founding Head of School William Campbell. “Together, we are not just preparing students for the future, we are shaping it.”
That vision comes to life through student-run startups that range from AI applications to sustainable products, as well as through Franklin’s “living prototype campus,” where students experiment with human-centered learning models and curriculum design.
Through global venture exchanges with peers at Dwight Schools abroad, students also collaborate on prototypes aimed at addressing global-scale challenges. Faculty, meanwhile, dedicate 100 minutes each week to advanced pedagogy in Franklin’s professional development continuum, ensuring that educators are continuously sharpening their craft while supporting students’ immersion in future-focused learning.
The recognition also reflects Franklin’s role as a national innovation hub. As the lead North American node of the Fab Lab Learning Academy, the school connects educators, researchers, and schools across the country to advance new models of teaching and learning. Its Teacher Innovation Residencies, led by Director of Innovation Jaymes Dec, bring faculty from Franklin and surrounding schools into the Fab Lab to explore cutting-edge curricula and practices.
The award, T4 Education said, is a testament to the creativity of Franklin’s students, the vision of its educators, and the engagement of its community, all working together to redefine what high school can be.