Courage to Lead

2025 Annual Report

Table of Contents

01. A Letter From the CEO

02. 2025 Snapshot

03. Investment Area Impact

04. Beyond the First Year

05. Amplifying What Works

06. Financial Update

07. Gratitude

08. 2025 Ventures

01!

A Letter From The CEO

A smiling woman with dark, curly hair, wearing a red blazer and white top, standing outdoors with green foliage in the background.

A Letter From CEO Frances Messano

When I think about 2025, I can’t help but reflect on what the year demanded of all of us. It was a deeply challenging time in education: constrained resources, shifting policies, and rising student needs. And yet, across the NewSchools community, I witnessed something powerful: courage.

Leaders stood firm in their values. We made hard choices to stay focused on students. Time and again, we chose purpose over fear. And when the work felt heavy, we leaned on one another. We found perspective in community, shared practical ideas, and made room for joy.

This report tells the story of that collective courage and the impact of focused, strategic, resilient action. It lifts up what’s working. 

  • Our school case studies highlight the models and practices driving promising results: 80% of our portfolio schools matched or outperformed similar schools in reading; 75% did so in math. 

  • We are seeing that with responsible design and implementation, AI-enabled learning solutions can expand access to rigorous content and personalized support, enable timely, actionable assessments, and help ensure that all students, including those with learning differences, are well supported.

  • New approaches to reimagine the role of teachers are creating local communities of care and strengthening teacher practice and support, ensuring both teachers and their students thrive.

Together, we reached nearly 3 million students and over half a million educators. And, thanks to significant new philanthropic investments secured in 2025, we’re heading into 2026 with strength and ambition to grow our impact. 

The challenges are real, but so are the wins. I’m proud to walk alongside this community, choosing courage to build what’s next. Read on to learn more and join us!

With appreciation,

Frances Messano
Chief Executive Officer

Group of diverse people at a conference or event, standing on stage with blue digital screens in the background.

02!

About NewSchools

Our Vision

We envision an education system that fulfills its promise to all students. There’s a better way to advance education through philanthropy — one that is more equitable, more collaborative, and more courageous — and we’re proving it every day.

Our Mission

NewSchools is a venture philanthropy that builds a better education system by connecting people, resources, and ideas. We invest in the ideas and energy of education leaders and entrepreneurs who are advancing innovative solutions that expand the definition of what works and create new possibilities for all students.

2025 Snapshot

We completed the second year of our 2024-26 strategy, investing in education leaders and entrepreneurs advancing innovative solutions that expand the definition of what works. 

2025 INVESTMENTS

 
28

million dollars invested

 
86

funded ventures

 
1651

total applicants

VENTURE LEADERS

Statistic showing that 70% of former educators.
Percentage chart showing 51% of leaders of color
A digital graphic displaying the statistic '64% women' in large black font on a light blue background.
Graphic showing that 13% of people are neurodiverse and/or have a disability.

INVESTMENT BY FOCUS AREA

Diagram showing the process of business analysis and its relationship to business strategy, project management, and enterprise analysis, with flow arrows connecting the components.

This page reflects unaudited totals as of January 31, 2026.

Pie chart displaying financial data with segments labeled with dollar amounts: $11.1M, $7.7M, $2.8M, $1.8M, $5.3M.

MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE

In addition to financial support, NewSchools provides comprehensive and customized management assistance that empowers ventures to thrive. As a result, ventures have grown their organizations, reach, and impact.

 
97

ventures supported
in 2025

 
79

Net Promoter Score from
ventures

 
92

percent of venture leaders
find relationship manager
support valuable

 
92

million dollars growth in annual revenue (3.6x NewSchools initial investment)

VENTURE REACH

Text graphic showing '2.9M students' in black font on a light gray background.
A graphic showing 534K educators
Text indicating 48K organizations.

  • What Leaders Are Saying

    “NewSchools understands the realities of school building and is willing to back bold ideas early, when they matter most. Their belief in founders shows up in consistent guidance and trust, which allows leaders to build with both accountability and freedom.”


    - Innovative Schools Venture Leader

  • What Leaders Are Saying

    “[Management assistance supports] are deeply aligned with the needs of founders who are building innovative solutions in education. [These] conversations changed how I worked and gave me strength. This combination of resources and community makes NewSchools a unique opportunity.”

    - Learning Solutions Venture Leader

  • What Leaders Are Saying

    “We value [NewSchools’] courage to be first-movers and to go places where others are not ready to go in claiming that there's intrinsic value in teachers thriving and that it's inherently connected with students thriving.”

    - Teaching Reimagined Venture Leader

03!

Investment Area Impact

Investment Area Impact

Click through the pages below to explore 2025 impact highlights, insights, and inspiring venture spotlights for each investment area.

Green background with black text about innovative schools and a white circle with an outline of a rocket launching.
A presentation slide titled 'Learning Solutions' detailing K-8 reading and math solutions for student success, with a 'Learn More' prompt and a yellow-green icon of a computer monitor with a play button.
A digital graphic promoting reimagining teaching with solutions involving AI, featuring black text on a white background and a lime green circle with a line art icon of a person at a podium in front of a blackboard.
Bright green flyer with black bold text that says "Learning Differences" and smaller text that reads "Solutions that enhance teaching and learning for students with diagnosed and undiagnosed learning disabilities." There is a white circle with black outline in the bottom right corner featuring a line drawing of two upward-moving figures, one larger with a cape and the other smaller.
Green background with black text about artificial intelligence support for investment areas and learning experiences, with a black and white icon of a computer monitor displaying a brain connected to circuitry.
Children sitting at a table in a classroom, engaging in a learning activity, with one girl showing colorful buttons on her wrist and smiling.

04!

Beyond the First Year

Our support doesn’t end after year one. We continue to fund and support ventures as they grow in the earliest stages, helping them strengthen their models, scale their impact, and contribute to an education system that delivers on its promise to all students. This snapshot highlights a selection of the accomplishments, awards, and recognition our ventures achieved in 2025.

  • Six children in school uniforms holding decorated hand mirrors in a classroom, with school supplies and organizational shelves in the background, and the Altura Preparatory School logo at the bottom.

    Altura Prepatory School

    Co-directed by Meaghan Hindman and Lissa Hines, Altura Preparatory School is a K–5 public charter school in Albuquerque, New Mexico, ranked the third best elementary school in the state by U.S. News. Serving 268 students, Altura reports strong academic outcomes, with proficiency rates of 94% for ELA, 87% for Math, and 91% for reading in the 2024-25 school year.

  • Four young students smiling, two girls and one boy, wearing black t-shirts that say 'BELIEVE MIDDLE COLLEGE' with a gold and black logo, standing together in front of a plain light background.

    BELIEVE Schools

    Founded by Kimberly Neal-Brannum, BELIEVE Schools develops public college- and career-preparatory high schools that equip students for independence and long-term success. In a milestone year, the organization secured $10M from Bloomberg and opened BELIEVE St. Louis High School in partnership with BJC HealthCare, creating healthcare career pathways that respond to regional workforce needs.

  • A classroom scene with students sitting at desks, laughing and listening to a teacher who is standing and talking to them, with a whiteboard and colorful classroom decorations in the background.

    Blue Engine

    Led by Jessi Brunken, Blue Engine strengthens co-teaching and inclusive instruction in schools nationwide. Its data-driven coaching has tripled mastery rates for students with IEPs, doubled English proficiency growth for multilingual learners, and helped schools build stronger literacy systems.

  • Two students are sitting at a table looking at a tablet. One student is pointing at the screen, and there are papers, notebooks, and school supplies on the table.

    Coursemojo

    Led by Dacia Toll, Coursemojo is an ELA-aligned, AI-powered teaching assistant that helps educators diagnose learning gaps, differentiate instruction, and deliver targeted one-on-one support. In 2024–25, Sumner County’s Mojo campuses saw an 8-point increase in ELA proficiency, while non-Mojo campuses experienced a slight decline.

  • A group of diverse people standing in a line inside a well-lit room, listening to a woman who is speaking and gesturing with her hands.

    Diversity In Leadership Institute

    Led by Laura McGowan-Robinson, the Diversity in Leadership Institute (DLI) identifies, develops and credentials culturally responsive TK–12 school leaders across California to advance more equitable outcomes for students. Since 2019, DLI has credentialed 124 leaders and successfully led advocacy efforts for a $10M California state grant to provide free credentialing for more than 300 school leaders.

  • A group of seven women gathered around a table working on a collaborative project with colored markers, sticky notes, and papers, in a well-lit indoor space, with a LEAD logo at the bottom.

    LeadCoLab

    Led by Lorraine Lago, LeadCoLab aims to improve the quality and sustainability of school leadership in Puerto Rico through system-wide programs that support school leaders and create a pipeline for new leadership. After participating in the institute, principals committed to staying in their role increased by 29% in Bayamón and 38% in San Juan.

  • Group of 15 diverse teachers and staff members at a teacher-powered schools event, posing indoors with wooden wall decor and window in the background.

    Teacher-Powered Schools

    Led by Amy Junge, Teacher-Powered Schools provides hands-on coaching to help schools build distributed leadership models that increase teacher ownership and collaboration. Eighty-two percent of coached schools report stronger capacity for student-centered learning, and 45% of teachers are likely to recommend the profession — more than double the national average.

  • Large group of people posing for a photo in a community hall decorated with colorful banners, some tables with items on them, and chairs along the walls. The group includes men and women of diverse ages and ethnicities, with some wearing name tags, smiling cheerfully at the camera. The text overlay reads "The Oakland Reach."

    The Oakland REACH

    Led by Lakisha Young, The Oakland REACH partners with districts to deliver family-powered tutoring and literacy models that drive measurable gains. A Northwestern University study found students in its MathBOOST program gained eight more points in math than peers. Now reaching 5,200+ students across six cities, Oakland Unified has fully adopted the Liberator Model—marking a shift from pilot to system change.

  • A student with curly hair sitting at a desk using a black laptop with a lesson plan, a yellow pencil, and school supplies on the desk.

    Zearn

    Led by CEO & Co-Founder Shalinee Sharma, Zearn is a K–8 math learning platform rated “Strong” (Tier 1) by Evidence for ESSA. Contributing to this rating was a 2023–24 quasi-experimental study by the Center for Research & Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University of over 7,000 students in grades 4–8 across three suburban and rural Louisiana districts. The study found that schools using Zearn with dedicated implementation support significantly outperformed peers on state math assessment, with a +0.20 SD gain and consistent results across student subgroups.

05!

Amplifying What Works

Amplifying What Works

Throughout the year, we shared solutions, success stories, and research to illuminate what’s working in education.

Summit 2025

Some of the most meaningful progress happens when leaders, educators, and students come together. Amid real uncertainty for the field, Summit 2025 convened nearly 700 leaders grappling with how to move forward when the work feels harder and more important than ever. The conversations showed that progress is possible when innovation is grounded in what works and leaders move forward together — with courage and a commitment to deliver for students. 

People seated at round tables having conversations at an indoor event or conference, with some standing and chatting in the background, in a conference room with blue lighting

Candid discussions on leading with courage and driving a path forward during uncertainty

Three people sitting on stage during a panel discussion, with a blue geometric background on a screen behind them.

National leaders outlining how state-level action can stabilize public education and keep student learning at the center

A panel of five young diverse individuals seated on high chairs on a stage, participating in a discussion at a conference. They have microphones, papers, and conference badges. The background features a patterned wall.

Students speak up about how schools must change to make learning meaningful, relevant, and future-ready

89% of attendees agree or strongly agree that insights from Summit will influence their approaches.

A teacher helping a young student with homework in a classroom setting.

Building Better Schools Case Studies

Recent research is helping NewSchools surface practices that are driving outstanding results in our portfolio schools. We shared our findings on the Building Better Schools hub, including winning strategies from 29 high-performing public schools in our portfolio and a series of six in-depth case studies that provide practical guidance for school leaders.

  • Thought Leadership

    Our insights highlighted the growing potential of AI to accelerate math outcomes through high-quality tutoring, improve teacher sustainability, and support students with learning differences.

  • Conference Appearances

    NewSchoolers presented at more than 12 major education conferences, including ASU+GSV, SXSW EDU, National Charter Schools Conference, and FullScale Symposium.

  • In the Media

    NewSchools CEO Frances Messano was quoted in Inside Philanthropy and Forbes, calling on funders to lead with urgency and conviction amid uncertainty. She emphasized philanthropy’s role in doubling down on education as essential to long-term opportunity, equity, and impact.

06!

Financial Update

Financial Update

NewSchools raised $90.9M in 2025. We are deeply grateful to our funding partners for their continued commitment, which positions us to fully realize our 2024–26 strategy and shape our vision for impact in 2027–29.

Total expenses for the year were $40.9M: 61% investments, 28% program expenses, and 11% general, administrative, and development costs. Notably, 89% of our spending directly supports venture leaders, with our board generously covering general and administrative expenses.

Pie chart titled 'Revenue Distribution' with four segments labeled with dollar amounts: $24.7M in dark blue, $11.6M in medium blue, $4.6M in yellow-green, and a smaller segment in black labeled 'Other' with no dollar amount.
A diagram illustrating different types of cloud computing models and deployment options, with color-coded labels for public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud, and community cloud.

2025 EXPENSES

Note: This page reflects unaudited totals as of January 31, 2026. Audited financial statements will be available here in summer 2026.

A group of young children in school uniforms standing outside a school entrance, some smiling and interacting joyfully.

07!

Gratitude

Thank you to everyone who supported NewSchools this year in creating new opportunities for our innovators, and the students and communities they serve. We are grateful to all of the individuals and organizations whose counsel and funding helped to fuel our work.

Board of Directors

Ime Archibong
Michelle Boyers
Brook Byers
Stacey Childress
Cori Duncan, Board Chair
Frances Messano

Angel Morales
Amy Rodde
Paula Sneed
Charlie Wolfson, Board Vice Chair
John Doerr, Lifetime Director
Kim Smith, Lifetime Director

2024-26 Funding Partners

Anonymous (4)
Ime Archibong
Arrow Impact
Ballmer Group
Bezos Family Foundation
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Byers Family
Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Stacey Childress
City Fund
Tammy and Bill Crown
Michael & Susan Dell Foundation

John and Ann Doerr
Cori Duncan & Marco Marinucci
Echo Creek Charitable Fund
Eckle Family Philanthropic Fund
The Everleaf Fund for Literacy
Gates Foundation
Give Forward Foundation
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Lemnis
Steve and Sue Mandel
Margulf Foundation
Merrill Family Foundation
Angel Morales

Lisette Nieves & Greg Gunn
Oak Foundation
Overdeck Family Foundation
Robertson Foundation
Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock
Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies
Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation
Paula Sneed & Lawrence P. Bass
Tandem Philanthropies
Valhalla Foundation
Walton Family Foundation
Waterfront Horizons
Yield Giving

In addition, we'd like to thank all of our Summit scholarship sponsors for their financial support.

Two young girls sitting closely together, each wearing headphones and looking at electronic tablets. One girl wears a light beige shirt with a graphic, and the other wears a blue T-shirt with 'New School San Francisco' printed on it.

08!

2025 Ventures

Ventures that received investments in 2025 are listed below. Learn more about all of our ventures here.

Innovative Schools

APS Internationals High School
Arcadia High School 
Autism Collier Charter School
Butler Academy HS
Central Brooklyn Literacy Academy 
Do & Be Arts Academy of Excellence
Dr. Arleen B Kennedy Academy of Excellence
Elm Community Charter School
Fort Worth STEAM Academy
Georgia Accelerated Career Academy

Greater Atlanta Preparatory School
Honor Prep Charter School
I Dream Big Academy
Independence Preparatory Academy
Innova Academy
Invictus Nashville Charter School
Jackson Museum School
Launch Expeditionary LearningCharter High School
Maritime|253
The Meliora School

MOXIE Public Schools
The Museum School of East Dallas
Namahana School
Pathway Academy
Queens International 6-12 School
Rock Academy
Sledge Institute
Tampa Early College Academy
Treasure Coast School for Autism
xS.T.R.E.A.M. Minds Academy 

Learning Solutions

The ASSISTments Foundation
BrainScience Works
California Indian Museum and Cultural Center
CitySchools Collaborative
Cultivating Literacy
The Dyscalculia Training & Research Institute
FULCRUM
Goblins
Grokkoli
Hola Books

The Lexsee Reading Company
Lit
LUCA AI
Magpie Literacy
New Classrooms
Oko Labs
PeerTeach
Snorkl
Step Up Tutoring
Talkido

Teachley
Thinkverse
UnboundED
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Utah
Unruly Studios
Vinn Labs
Young Data Scientists League 

Teaching Reimagined

ALL in Education
CommunityShare
Indigitize, a project of One Generation
Journify Learning
Relay Graduate School of Education

Teacher-Powered Schools
Thrive
Uppercase
The Urban Assembly

Learning Differences

The Ability Challenge
All Means All School Leadership Program
Celebrate EDU
Diverse Learners Cooperative
Dyslexia Alliance for Black Children
Emote Education Inc

Fair Schools
The Inspired Community Project, Inc.
Intersection Collective
Playground IEP
True Measure Collaborative
Uprooted Academy

Additional Reinvestments

Camelback Ventures
Diversity in Leadership Institute
Latinos For Education
LeadCoLab
Lead Liberated
Pahara Institute
Surge Institute