Visiting Schools in the NewSchools Catapult Cohort (Post 3 of 3)
Over the last three months, we have been convening, learning from, and visiting schools across the country that are in our Catapult 2015 cohort. Each school we support is reimagining, redesigning and recreating the student experience. Through a series of blog posts, we are excited to highlight these schools and some of the ways they […]
Visiting Schools in the NewSchools Catapult Cohort (Post 2 of 3)
Over the last three months, we have been convening, learning from, and visiting schools across the country that are in our Catapult 2015 cohort. Each school we support is reimagining, redesigning and recreating the student experience. Through a series of blog posts, we are excited to highlight these schools and some of the ways they […]
Visiting Schools in the NewSchools Catapult Cohort (Post 1 of 3)
Over the last three months, we have been convening, learning from, and visiting schools across the country that are in our Catapult 2015 cohort. Each school we support is reimagining, redesigning and recreating the student experience. Through a series of blog posts, we are excited to highlight these schools and some of the ways they […]
Accelerating Innovation through Communities of Practice: Our First Catapult Cohort
Entrepreneurs innovate more quickly and effectively when they can learn from others grappling with challenges similar to the ones they are facing. Leaders who are opening innovative new schools can go farther and faster working together than they can in isolation. This can be challenging when the day-to-day demands of running a school or school organization do […]
Launching NewSchools Catapult: Invent 2016!
In July 2015 we launched NewSchools Catapult, a program to invest in and support education entrepreneurs launching new schools with innovative instructional models. We recently announced NewSchools Catapult 2015, a cohort of 14 trailblazing district and charter schools that are reimagining PREK-12 education by personalizing learning and giving students greater agency over their experience. Innovation takes many […]
Announcing the Catapult 2015 Cohort
Earlier this summer, we launched NewSchools Catapult, the first endeavor of our new Innovative Schools strategy. Its purpose is simple, yet bold: to create a bellwether for innovation in PreK-12 education by supporting the most promising school teams from around the country in creating the kinds of incredible, life-altering schools that our students deserve. This was […]
Micro Schools: Opportunities and Potential Challenges
The meteoric rise in the interest in so-called “micro schools” over the past year has been impressive. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, a micro school is simply a school, public or private, with a small student population (typically fewer than 100 students). Often these models are associated with emerging ideas such as personalized and […]
Dissatisfied Yet Optimistic: Moving Faster toward New School Models
Today, Diane Tavenner, Aylon Samouha, Jeff Wetzler and I released a paper called Dissatisfied Yet Optimistic: Moving Faster toward New School Models. Each of us has been working from different vantage points for a number of years to redesign schools for personalized learning by rethinking time, talent, and technology. Several months ago, we decided to […]
NewSchools Catapult: 1 Week Countdown, Early Observations
Earlier this summer, we released NewSchools Catapult, an opportunity for innovative, new schools with plans to launch in Fall 2016 to apply for early-stage investment from us. Its goal over the next several years is to propel successive waves of education entrepreneurs to launch new schools – the kinds of incredible, life-altering schools that can truly prepare […]
Tell Us Your Big Idea! Launching Pre-Application Surveys to Gather Info on Innovative Schools
Earlier this year we shared our strategy for 2015 and beyond. A major pillar of our strategy is to invest in teams of educators across the U.S. who are designing schools that prepare and inspire each and every student to reach his or her most ambitious dreams and plans. We aim to support schools that set […]