Innovate Public Schools is a power building organization dedicated to building the capacity of parents and families to organize, advocate, and demand high quality schools for their children.
We believe that the education system was not designed to serve all children, and that the biggest barrier to all children having access to an excellent school is a lack of political will to improve the system. We believe the voices and experiences of parents, families, and students should be elevated and centered in decisions about education.
Carmen Rodriguez with Sen. Portantino
Parent leader, Carmen Rodriguez visits Senator Anthony Portantino at CA State Capitol
Innovate builds power for a more equitable education system...
in key areas throughout California, at the State level and nationwide. Our flagship programming provides foundational understanding of community organizing and trains community organizations, school leaders and parents to take action for a more equitable education system. With a people-based research and policy approach, we equip parents, families and advocacy organizations with the data driven tools they need to advocate for better educational outcomes in local school districts.
Parent Leaders throughout California Organize for High Quality Education for Black & Brown Students. Read more in our latest Blog Entries.
Renaissance Academy: Cultivating a Culture of Joyful Learning
“The most important thing is relationships. That allows rigor, and relevance follows,” said Assistant Principal Vince Iwasaki.
Hurley School: Offering Rigorous Academics for ALL Students
“The [Hurley staff] never rests,” said Rebecca Carey, mother of Hurley third and sixth graders.
UP Academy Dorchester: Cultivating a Culture of Joyful Learning
A diagram of the brain hangs at the front of every UP Academy Dorchester third grade classroom, covered with stickers. The stickers represent neurons. When a student struggles with a problem and then gets it, or if she makes a mistake and then corrects herself, her brain grows, and she gets to go up to the board and add a neuron.
Cornerstone Academy: Building and Developing a Great Team
Claire Mahler thought she’d blown it. One student had squirmed in her seat. Others hadn’t grasped some of the more challenging concepts. Asked how she thought the sample lesson had gone, Mahler was honest: Parts had worked; others had not.
Sci Academy: A Mission That Matters
“So there are a couple ways of looking at a seemingly insurmountable task,” said Ben Marcovitz “One is that it exhausts you and overwhelms you. The other is that it inspires and excites you.” Marcovitz, the founder of Sci Academy, an outstanding college preparatory high school in east New Orleans, is clearly of the inspire and excite persuasion.









