Sycamore makes mastery-based learning the standard with Headrush
The Sycamore Difference
At The Sycamore School, learning doesn’t fit inside neat little boxes. Based in Arlington, VA, Sycamore is a private, alternative school serving grades 5-12.
Instead of rigid schedules and standardized courses, students explore subjects through real-world themes, work at their own pace, and get assessed on their actual growth—not just whether they memorized something for a test.
Our founder saw that schools weren’t working for a lot of students. High achievers might do fine anywhere, but the kids in the middle—students with learning differences, neurodivergence, or just those who don’t fit the mold—were getting left behind. Sycamore was built to change that.
- Julie Diefenderfer Assistant Head of School & Math Teacher
To make this vision work, Sycamore needed a system that could track progress in a way that made sense for their students.
Using themes and narratives as learning engagement drivers
At Sycamore, learning isn’t broken up into separate, isolated subjects. Instead, students explore big, real-world themes that combine multiple disciplines. It’s a ‘tapestry’ approach to education.
Take their Justice Module, for example.
Instead of a traditional history class, students:
- Study the Constitution and civil rights movements
- Analyze forensic evidence and DNA testing in biology
- Learn about law enforcement and policy-making
At the end of each semester, they don’t take a test—they create a real-world project. One class produced a true-crime podcast, where students researched cases, applied forensic science, and used storytelling skills to share their findings!
Everything is connected. Instead of memorizing facts, students see how subjects interact in the real world. And when it comes time to demonstrate learning, they build something meaningful instead of filling out a multiple-choice test.
- Julie Diefenderfer
On top of that:
- Courses are self-paced—students move forward when they’re ready, not because the calendar says so.
- Assessments are narrative-based, meaning teachers give meaningful feedback instead of handing out letter grades. You literally can’t get an A grade.
- Students are measured on competencies (e.g. research, communication, and self-directed learning) that build over four years—not reset every school year.
This kind of personalized, interdisciplinary learning is a bold way to approach education. But there was a catch.
How do you keep track of progress without grades or tests?
The short answer was spreadsheets. Lots of them.
It was an administrative nightmare—especially for Julie, who spent hours trying to track student mastery by hand.
Before Headrush, I had to manually go into a spreadsheet and figure out every student’s progress. I was basically running an algorithm in my own head.
- Julie Diefenderfer
For years, Sycamore pieced together different tools to make their model work.
- Static gradebooks in a Student Information System
- Spreadsheets for tracking student progress
- Google Docs for reports and assessments
- Emails for back-and-forth with parents
- A whole lot of manual work to keep it all organized and make sense
And while students loved the freedom of the Sycamore model, the behind-the-scenes admin work was exhausting.
Their Student Information System wasn’t designed for mastery-based learning. At the end of each school year, it automatically reset student progress, forcing Julie to manually track and transfer data. She had to ensure that competencies didn’t disappear just because the calendar flipped to Fall semester.
That world felt time-consuming, frustrating, and totally unsustainable.
Every quarter, teachers had to write detailed narratives for every student. Then I had to review them all, organize them, and figure out how to turn them into reports for parents. It was a lot.
- Julie Diefenderfer
Enter Headrush: the system built for personalized education
Things changed when Sycamore found Headrush.
Mastery tracking that moves with students, not against them
With Headrush, Sycamore finally had a system that tracked student progress over multiple years.
Now, students (and teachers) can see exactly where they stand in their competencies, and they have four years to master them instead of getting a pass/fail grade at the end of the year.
Instead of me manually updating spreadsheets, Headrush just…does it. It keeps track of where students are in their learning journey without us having to think about it.
- Julie Diefenderfer
Teachers focus on teaching and collaboration
Before Headrush, teachers spent way too much time managing paperwork. Now everything is in one place.
- They see student progress at a glance instead of digging through emails and files.
- Competency-based assessments are built into Headrush, making it easy to provide feedback without extra steps.
- Reports for parents take minutes instead of hours to generate.
- When it’s time to apply to college, students don’t have to translate their learning into a GPA. Their mastery transcript shows what they’ve accomplished—making it easier for colleges to understand their strengths.
When students turn in work, teachers can review it, add feedback, and track their growth—without jumping between five different tools.
- Julie Diefenderfer
Parents see what’s happening without panicking
Julie was hesitant about giving parents access to Headrush—she worried they’d be constantly checking in, questioning assessments, or micromanaging their kids’ progress.
But the opposite happened.
It turns out, when parents can actually see what’s happening, they worry less—not more. Instead of waiting for a big report, they can check in whenever they want.
- Julie Diefenderfer
No more patchwork of systems
Perhaps the biggest win was bringing teaching and learning into one place.
- No more manually updating student progress.
- No more tracking competencies by hand.
- No more wasted time trying to turn messy data into something readable.
Everything just works now.
Before, I spent so much time just organizing information. Now, I get to focus on helping students learn.
- Julie Diefenderfer
Feel the rush
For schools that don’t fit the traditional mold, finding the right LMS can feel impossible. But if you’re looking for something that actually supports competency-based learning, self-paced progress, and real-time tracking, Headrush is the way to go.
At Sycamore, Headrush has freed up time, reduced admin stress, and made learning more transparent—all without forcing them to change the way they teach.
Mike, Shane, and the Headrush team actually listen. They don’t just sell you software and disappear—they work with you to make it fit your needs.
- Julie Diefenderfer