The 14 most innovative schools in America

American education catches a lot of flack for falling behind other countries in global rankings, but test scores aren't everything. The truth is, some of the most cutting-edge learning takes place on US soil.

We consulted education experts from Google as well as past assessments from InnoveEdu and Noodle to arrive at a comprehensive list of schools that embody innovation in a variety of forms.

There is the Arizona school where Native American students learn about sustainability and agriculture; the school in Michigan where kids learn about zoology; the New York City school for LGBT youth; and many more.

Together, the schools demonstrate that equations and vocabulary tests, while essential, aren't the only things that matter in schooling. They're a small piece of the much larger pursuit to mold young minds.

Star School. Flagstaff, AZ. The school that's off the grid.

Navajo children make up 99% of the student body at Star School, the first public elementary school in the US to get all of its energy from solar power. 

Students grow their own food in the school's greenhouses, take culinary classes, and develop solutions for the local problem of unclean drinking water, says Mark Sorensen, co-founder and CEO of STAR School. "We believe that our orientation to service projects in the community and using our community's culture as a rich resource in contextualizing learning are what make us successful."

Students also learn the 4 Rs, which come from the Navajo culture: Respect, Relationship, Responsibility, and Reasoning. As a result, Sorensen says the school hasn't had a fist fight in over six years and bullying is rare.

Brightworks School. San Francisco, CA. The school that teaches dangerously.

Launched by visionary Gever Tulley in 2011, Brightworks takes some of the most dangerous things parents tell their kids not to do and makes an entire curriculum out of them. 

Kids in grades K to 12 get dirty, play with fire, take apart home appliances, and complete art projects all in the same day.

"We invite students to be co-authors of their education, embracing and supporting the individual and the unique set of skills and interests that motivate them," Tulley and Justine Macauley, Brightworks' program coordinator, tell Tech Insider in an email. 

The school is housed in an expansive warehouse filled with art, forts, makeshift theaters — all of which are meant to tap into kids' creative side.

"The world needs more people who see the hardest challenges as interesting puzzles and have the creative capacity, skills, and tenacity to make change happen," Tulley and Macauley say. 

e3 Civic High School. San Diego, CA. The school inside a library.

Tucked inside the New San Diego Central Library in downtown San Diego, the charter high school gives lower-income kids access to research facilities, study abroad opportunities, and project-based instruction — all with nearly unlimited resources for satisfying their curiosities.

E³— so named for its mission to engage, educate, and empower — opened three years ago, following a study that found more than half of San Diego's students leave the downtown area to attend high school. City officials saw the exit as a sign the region needed improvement.

The result is a school that lives on the sixth and seventh floors of the local library and embodies its mission through design. E³ is LEED Gold-certified and features movable walls, modular furniture, and a plaza for assemblies and meals.