News & Resources
How can we improve our schools? What will help our children learn? Read about innovations in education and what they mean for your school, your children and your community.
New School Progress Reports Released through Collaboration Between Franklin-McKinley School District and Charter Schools
Innovate Public Schools has published new school progress reports for all 22 district and charter schools located in Franklin-McKinley School District as part of a local cross-sector collaboration. “We have set an ambitious goal for our students’ success. No other...
New Video on Our National Parent Leader Institute
Take a look at this new video about our National Parent Leader Institute.
U.S. Secretary of Education Meets with Innovate Parent Leaders
Sitting knee to knee, Innovate parent leaders hosted Acting Secretary of Education John King on January 30 for an intimate meeting about the group’s work to increase the number of world-class public schools serving low-income students and students of color in the Bay...
100 Come Together in San Jose for Innovate’s National Parent Leader Institute
On February 26, Innovate Public Schools welcomed 100 parent leaders and education advocates from across the country for our National Parent Leader Institute. For three days, parents from across the Bay Area, Colorado, Connecticut, and Washington D.C. came together to...
Parents win! East Palo Alto KIPP school approved 4-1
On February 11, the Ravenswood School District school board approved 4-1 a new KIPP charter public school to open in East Palo Alto in 2017. Parents and supporters filled the board room, erupting in applause after the vote and spilling into the hallway, hugging each...
GreatSchools and Innovate Public Schools Launch New, Bilingual School Quality Website for Bay Area Parents
GreatSchools, a national nonprofit helping parents guide their kids to successful futures, and Innovate Public Schools, which works with parents to improve education in their communities, today launched the new GreatSchools Bay Area website. “Our goal is to better...
Rocketship Mosaic Elementary School: Engaging Parents as Co-Educators and Leaders
The community meeting is a staple at many schools, but at RoMo it happens every month, and upwards of eighty percent of parents routinely attend – a level of participation that’s practically unheard of.
Mindset for success – How to foster a healthy attitude towards learning in your child
Many notable historical figures struggled on their road to success. For example, Albert Einstein had difficulty counting to ten as a child and, as a teen, he failed his initial college entrance exam (which he successfully passed a year later). So what was it about Einstein that helped him persevere to become the most respected physicist of all time?
School Leaders from Top Bay Area Schools for Underserved Students Share What Works
On Thursday, November 5, parents, educators and community leaders from across the Bay Area came together to celebrate the top 54 public schools in the region serving underserved students.
New Report: Top Bay Area Schools for Underserved Children
Today, Innovate Public Schools released its latest research report which finds that overall, the Bay Area trails the state in test scores for low-income Latino and African American students, but some schools buck the trend.
250+ Parents Come Out to Push for Better Public Schools in East Palo Alto
On Oct. 26, over 250 families came out for an action forum to ask public officials to support their push to bring a new KIPP charter public school to East Palo Alto.
300+ Redwood City Parents and Youth Come out for Candidates Forum on Education
On Oct. 8, more than 300 Redwood City parents and youth came out to a community forum on education hosted by Innovate Public Schools, a nonprofit working to ensure all Bay Area students get a high-quality education.
Rod Kelley Elementary: Ensuring Rigorous Academics for All Students
This Gilroy school was not always a strong performer. Then teachers changed their approach and focus, with impressive results. “The focus has been on high expectations for all kids, but also for us. That’s the culture that’s evolved here,” said the school’s principal.
Achievement First Amistad High School: Using Data to Improve and Drive Student Learning
“On a daily basis, it’s about little adjustments,” explains Jen Tillotson, 10th grade geometry teacher. “If my students didn’t get it, what’s the one thing I’m going to focus on tomorrow?”
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.
Over 80% of East Palo Alto Students Aren’t On Track in English and Math
In today’s economy, most good jobs require a college education. However, in East Palo Alto schools, which serve primarily low-income students, only a small number of students are currently on track to graduate ready for college. In 2014-15, only 17% of students met or exceeded standards in English and only 12% met that bar for math in Ravenswood City School District, which serves East Palo Alto students in grades K-8. This shows a significant gap when compared to Silicon Valley schools’ averages: 57% for English and 51% for math.