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Celebrating 10 Years of Empowerment

Featured, Our Blog

It's been ten years since Empower Schools began its journey towards empowering educators and transforming education. As we reflect on our first decade of education innovation, we're proud of our progress and impact on students, educators, and communities across the United States. Empower Schools was born from a crucial realization: isolated efforts in educational innovation, though necessary, could not sufficiently address the broader, systemic challenges inherent to our education system. This insight spurred thoughtful dialogues with community leaders and education innovation pioneers, leading to a consensus on the need for a unified strategy. This strategy would integrate effectively within the existing educational framework to better serve a broader range of students.

What Educators Want and Students Need

Featured, Homepage, Our Blog

Ten years ago, three schools shared the Chestnut campus in Springfield, MA. All ranked at the very bottom of the state's accountability system – even the one designated an honors academy. Today, however, the programming in the building has undergone a radical and successful transformation. That honors program is the most improved school in the state, and the other schools now in the building have designed purposes and goals. These additional schools include a culturally responsive dual language school and a wall-to-wall early college program where high school students earn college credits and associate degrees.

Building Pathways for Rural Students

Featured, Our Blog, Rural Innovation

Nearly one in five students in the United States attend a rural school. These schools are critical institutions serving as the backbone of small communities and playing a pivotal role in educating the next generation of citizens. Despite their integral role and evolving demographics, rural schools often receive less attention and have access to fewer resources than their urban and suburban counterparts. Since 2018, Empower Schools has taken significant steps to change this disparity, starting with a transformative initiative in Premont, Texas. This systemic approach revitalized the local education system and brought new life to the community, ultimately preparing students for successful futures in an increasingly complex workforce.

How High Schools Can Advance Post-Secondary Success

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We know from robust research that demographics play a large role in the destiny of too many students and that economic mobility is significantly more difficult to achieve for students from high-poverty neighborhoods and rural communities. We also know that high school or even college graduation is only part of the puzzle - that students do better in school and life when they have access to career exploration and navigation, strong college and career advising, and meaningful work-based learning in the form of internships, apprenticeships, and pathways to certification in their field of interest. For over a decade, Empower Schools has supported the pioneers of “remixing” high school, college, and career to help students persist in college, graduate with relevant credentials, and achieve family-sustaining wages. Our systemic approach helps students access fulfilling careers through Early College and Career Pathways.

‘Not waiting for people to save us’: 9 school districts combine forces to help students

In the News, Rural Innovation

"In rural Colorado, school districts broke down attendance boundaries and pooled resources to prepare students for college and good jobs."

How to use school-level autonomy to improve schools? Design it with the people most affected by it.

In the News, Innovation Schools

"Building the School Autonomy Framework became much bigger than the framework itself. It’s been about the process. With CPRL’s help, we used a people and process lens to develop the framework. It’s been about building relationships, communicating transparently, delivering on what we had promised, and building systems that include accountability but also support."

Build Momentum Rural Innovation Series ft Jessica Morrison

In the News, Rural Innovation

From

Build Momentum | Sarah Williamson, Chad Bolser

Published Mar 24, ...

Helping students in rural Colorado explore different career pathways

In the News, Rural Innovation

From

KSJD | By Tom Yoder

Elevating Rural Colorado

Our Blog, Resources, Rural Innovation Resources

Chris Gabrieli’s New Harvard Course on Remixing Education

In the News, Our Blog, The Empower Team

Empower Schools Announces Alyssa Morton as New CEO

In the News

Empower Schools is pleased to announce that Alyssa Morton is the organization’s new CEO. She follows in the footsteps of Chris Gabrieli, who co-founded Empower Schools in 2013. As part of Empower Schools’ ...

Schools, businesses want early college program greatly expanded for underrepresented students — but will Mass. do it?

In the News

LAWRENCE — The high school juniors and seniors recently sat in a Northern Essex Community College class, excited to become doctors, nurses, and medical assistants. But first, they faced years of schooling and difficult textbook ...

Southwest Colorado nonprofit building pathways from classrooms to careers

In the News

Five school districts have teamed up with two colleges to form an educational collaborative aimed at introducing students to possible career pathways based on their skills and interests.

The Southwest Colorado Education Collaborative ...

SW Colorado Learning Collaborative receives $3.6 million to help students interested in building trades, environmental science

In the News

Fort Lewis College, Pueblo Community College Southwest and five regional school districts have received $3.6 million in state funds for a partnership to pool resources to build stronger educational pathways for people interested in building ...

State awards Adams State $2.5 million to address COVID-related challenges in local schools

In the News

Adams State University has been awarded $2.5 million under the state of Colorado’s Response, Innovation, and Student Equity (RISE) fund to address learning challenges in San Luis Valley schools related to the economic, social, and health ...

Fort Lewis College awarded grant from state to build postsecondary pathways

In the News

Fort Lewis College received $3.6 million for the Southwest Colorado District Collaborative, a partnership between FLC, Pueblo Community College, and southwest Colorado school districts to pool resources and build strong postsecondary ...

The Rural Schools Innovation Zone featured in the Wall Street Journal

In the News

The Rural Schools Innovation Zone was featured in the Wall Street Journal about how they are nimbly adjusting their vocational training and education throughout the pandemic.

CEO of East Texas Advanced Academies Someone Black Students Can Identify With

Homepage, In the News

CEO of East Texas Advanced Academies, Dr. Cynthia Wise, was featured on the Longview News-Journal as a strong Black leader that is representative of her community and for her students.

Senior Officer of the Leadership Academy Network featured in PPI Webinar for Schools That Excelled During the Pandemic: How and Why They Pivoted Effectively to Remote Learning

Homepage, In the News

Senior Officer of the Leadership Academy Network, Priscila Dilley, was featured on a panel by PPI alongside other education leaders who have been excelling during ...

Profile in Education Equity: Cicely Alexander, Lubbock Partnership Network

Homepage, In the News

The Executive Director of the Lubbock Partnership Network, Cicely Alexander, was featured by EdTrust on her personal connection and local leadership in the Lubbock ...

Operation Education: Assessing the Empowerment Zone after its first year

In the News

The South Bend Empowerment Zone's first year has come to a close. Zone leaders are now evaluating what was accomplished, and what's left to be done.

The Empowerment Zone consists of five chronically underperforming schools -- Navarre ...

Some students might soon get what they’ve long needed: More classroom time

In the News

Nearly everyone is wondering how to start what will be the most uncertain new school year of our lifetimes. I sense both fear and hope. It is ...

Blog: To Our Community

Our Blog

To our community,

We are heartbroken and angry. The murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless others before them are a manifestation of systemic racism. We stand with protesters across the country in their ...

Of Houses and Hope: A Promising Fort Worth School Turnaround and the Closely Watched Policy Push Making It Happen

In the News

Fort Worth

As kids pass in the halls at Como Elementary, the undercurrent of joy about the school’s Harry Potter-style house system is palpable. Banners and other color-coded emblems on ...

John King Talks Teacher Diversity, Student Engagement, Budgeting, School Autonomy — and ‘Fauxtonomy’ — at Texas Education Reform Summit

In the News

John King may be the first U.S. secretary of education who was kicked out of high school. But he hopes he’s not the last.

King’s parents died before he finished sixth grade. By the time he was in high school, he was a hurting, angry ...

Transformation Waco schools show significant progress on STAAR exams

In the News

Students in Transformation Waco schools have made significant strides in their performance on state standardized exams in the past two years, even surpassing state average scores on some tests this year, CEO Robin McDurham said at a board ...

Alexander named executive principal of Lubbock Partnership Network

Homepage, In the News

Cicely Alexander, current principal of Alderson Elementary, has been named the executive principal of the Lubbock Partnership Network.

According to a news release, the Lubbock Partnership Network is an innovative partnership with ...

How a New Innovation Zone Will Bring Big-World Opportunities to Students in 3 Rural Texas Districts

In the News

Texas has more schools in rural areas than any other state. In the 2015-16 school year, rural schools, as classified by the Texas Education Agency, accounted for 459 of the 1,247 school districts in Texas. Having the privilege to lead school ...

Texas school districts create Rural Schools Innovation Zone

In the News

In a pioneering new partnership, three districts in South Texas are joining forces to create a first-of-its-kind initiative to improve educational opportunities for their rural students.

The school boards of Brooks ...

Will a partnership with Texas Wesleyan create high-achieving schools in Fort Worth?

Homepage, In the News

FORT WORTH - A new education partnership between Fort Worth schools and Texas Wesleyan University aims to sustain academic gains made ...

Four South Texas ISDs Come Together for Partnership

In the News

Superintendents and board presidents of four nearby South Texas school districts signed a resolution Thursday evening establishing the creation of a Rural School Innovation Zone that will allow them to share educational services in partnership ...

In Massachusetts, Initiatives to Empower Principals and Teachers

In the News

Massachusetts, the state where the first public high school opened in 1820 and the “common school’’ movement began in the 1830s, has ranked first in NAEP scores over seven consecutive tests since 2005. The Kids Count Data Center placed ...

Transformation Waco Approves Management of Five Struggling Schools

Homepage, In the News

On Tuesday, a newly formed nonprofit approved overseeing six schools in Waco for the next two years. Five of those schools were at risk of closing earlier this year are part of the schools that will now be managed by Transformation ...

Denver Expands Its Experiment With More Autonomous ‘Innovation Zones’

In the News, Innovation Schools

Five more Denver schools will have additional freedom this fall from school district rules. The school board voted unanimously Thursday to allow one school to join an existing “innovation zone” and another four to create a new one. ...

What We’ve Learned From Leading Schools in Denver’s Luminary Network — And How We’ve Used Our Financial Freedom

In the News

Three years ago, we were among a group of Denver principals who began meeting to tackle an important question: How could we use Colorado’s innovation schools law to take our schools to the next level? As leaders of innovation schools, we ...

Denver’s Luminary Learning Network Shows How Innovation Zones Can Work for Teachers, Students, and Families

Our Blog

When we helped four school leaders launch an “innovation zone” in Denver two years ago, we weren’t sure where the journey would take us. The guiding vision was for radical empowerment of the educators closest to the students. So we began ...

Springfield Teachers, Empowerment Zone Schools Praised by Gov. Charlie Baker

In the News

Two teachers who represented the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership during Gov. Charlie Baker's State of the Commonwealth speech said it is a testament to the work being done by administrators, teachers, parents and students. "It was a ...

Denver’s First Innovation Zone: How It Got Built & Early Lessons

In the News

Education leaders, advocates, and policymakers interested in pushing more decision-making, budget flexibility, and ownership to the school level can hear lessons from Colorado’s first independently run innovation zone of public schools – thanks ...

Innovation Partnership Zones, an educational Third Way

Featured, Our Partners, Policy and Thought Leadership

Innovation Partnership Zones, as they are called in Representative Peisch's proposal, share the same general structure as the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership: an independent, interlocking board of directors, a performance contract with the local district, and a pathway to a new, negotiated collective bargaining agreement that allows more teacher voice at the school level.

Early learnings, successes, and inspiration from Denver’s LLN

Innovation Schools, Our Blog

It has been exciting to see Denver Public Schools leadership so enthusiastic about the promise of the Empowerment Zone model that they are considering launching their own call for Zones and re-fashioning the district’s theory of action to reflect a 'schools as the unit of change' - a central tenet of Zone, and Empower Schools theory.