The Open
Adaptive District
A public school district built to absorb new technology at the pace technology actually moves — through cross-silo teams, short cycles, common intent, and a learning published as it happens.
Draft Collection · May 2026What this is. This is the working set of documents that defines and operates the Open Adaptive District at Peninsula School District. The doctrine, the cycle, the agent, the templates, the briefs, the training, the action plan — all gathered in one place so any district can read it, fork it, and adapt it.
Where to begin. Start with the SHIP Quick Guide for the doctrine, then read The Logbook to see how it operates. Everything else is templates, training, and worked examples that hang off those two.
The doctrine
What the Open Adaptive District is and how it operates.
SHIP Cycle Quick Guide
The operating model — six-week cycles of Sense · Hypothesize · Implement · Publish, run by cross-silo teams under a quarterly intent.
Doctrine · 5 minThe Logbook · Design Brief
The agent skill that watches the district's Google Chat Spaces, walks teams through their cycle, and drafts every brief.
Design brief · 6 minFellowship Action Plan
The superintendent's Google GSV Ed Leader Fellowship submission. The transformational opportunity, the year-long plan, and the public-interest extension.
Submission · 12 minQuarterly Intent · Template
The three-sentence superintendent statement that sets each quarter's direction. Interactive — compose, preview, and copy.
Interactive template · 4 minThe end-of-cycle briefs
What every team produces when a cycle closes. Three patterns, one backbone. These become the publishable corpus on psd401.ai.
Adoption Brief · Template
For bets that worked and are scaling. What we tried, what we learned, why we're adopting, what others should know.
Brief templateDecommission Brief · Template
For bets that didn't work. Honest debrief — what we tried, what we learned, why we're stopping, what others should not repeat.
Brief templateContinuation Brief · Template
For bets that need another cycle to know. What we tried, what we learned, what we're testing next, revised hypothesis.
Brief templateThe working tools
Daily and weekly templates teams use inside a cycle. These keep the work legible to the Logbook.
Bet Brief · Template
A team's one-pager at the start of a cycle. Hypothesis, success criteria, week-one plan.
Operating templateWeekly Check-In · Template
What teams post in their Google Chat Space each week. Tried · Learned · Stuck · Needs.
Operating templateTraining & reference
For teams new to the model — onboarding, primers, and the August kickoff.
SHIP Team Onboarding Guide
The handbook a new team reads before Cycle 01. Roles, rhythm, expectations, where to find what.
TrainingBet-Writing Primer
One page of patterns and anti-patterns. How to write a hypothesis that can actually be tested in six weeks.
ReferenceDoctrine Primer
Senge, Bungay, McChrystal, Snowden, and Teece in plain English. Twelve minutes for anyone who wants the intellectual grounding.
ReferenceCabinet & leadership
What the chiefs and the superintendent receive from the Logbook each week and each quarter.
Cabinet Weekly Read · Template
The five-bullet executive view the Logbook produces for the cabinet each week, tied back to the current quarterly intent.
Leadership templateQuarterly Synthesis · Template
The longer publication-ready writeup at the close of each quarter. Feeds the year-end publication.
Leadership templateThe agent skill
The deep technical spec for the Logbook — how it gets built, how it gets loaded, what it knows.
The Logbook · Agent Skill Spec
System prompt, knowledge base structure, sample dialogues, boundary rules, update protocol. Everything needed to build and maintain the skill.
Technical specAugust Kickoff · Facilitator Guide
The 90-minute session that launches Cycle 01. Agenda, exercises, slides, what teams leave with.
TrainingAugust Kickoff · Slides
Full-screen presentation deck for the kickoff. Nine slides — arrow keys to navigate, F for fullscreen, prints clean.
Presentation