A Story of Dreamers
From 2011 through 2014, we successively prototyped and launched our blended, competency-based model in 3 different bottom 5% local District schools in Detroit, Michigan.
These initial prototypes were so successful in terms of student growth and achievement, that in 2014 we took over our first charter school, Merit Prep in Newark, New Jersey, a grade 5-12 charter school.
In 2015 we took over our second (PreK-5 elementary) and third (6-8 middle) charter schools, Michigan Technical Academy in Detroit. We also launched our own, open-sourced Spark technology platform that combines playlists, assessments, performance tasks and projects in a seamless individual learning pathway for each and every student.
In 2017 we are launching an accelerator in Washington, DC, a year long apprenticeship wherein we will train a school’s leadership team in our turnaround methodology, provide access to and intensive coaching on our competency-based technology platform Spark and continual onsite and offsite coaching through the successful school transformation launch.
Our turnaround work, technology platform, and approach to bringing cutting edge innovation to the neediest schools and students they serve has won national recognition. We are one of a handful of CMO’s holistically implementing a competency-based, blended model, one of just three CMO’s nationally that have created their own learning management platform and the only blended CMO solely focused on existing school transformations.
A Bright Future
We are seeking a third city and school to manage for our direct run strategy. We also seek current and future schools to partner with in our accelerator. Lastly, we will consider soon schools that would like to partner indirectly with us and our unique learning management platform Spark.
Through these three successive phases of our strategy, we humbly seek to build a network of multi-cohort users tethered to a 21st century teaching and learning platform that form a community that continually open-source shares and builds upon each other the vision that by meeting every student regardless of their age or starting capacity, we can and will progress every student to their full potential, starting with the students with the greatest need.
