Wayfinder

Wayfinder Help your students build lives of purpose. These skills strengthen student engagement, achievement, and well-being.

Developed at the Stanford University d.school, Wayfinder is the complete PreK-12 platform for purpose-driven learning. Combining research-backed curriculum, MTSS-aligned supports, and real-time insights, Wayfinder equips every learner with skills to thrive in school and beyond. From daily lessons to districtwide data tools, Wayfinder educators have everything they need to teach future-ready skills

, measure growth, and foster belonging across grade levels and learning environments. Wayfinder’s Core Curriculum builds six future-ready skills: Self-Awareness, Adaptability, Empathy, Collaboration, Agency, and Purpose. Wayfinder’s thematic Collections and 2000+ activities drive relevant, targeted learning experiences aligned to individual, school, and district goals. The Waypoints assessment suite provides actionable insights into student progress and automatically recommends activities to support each learner’s needs. Since 2015, Wayfinder has driven measurable improvements in engagement, social awareness, and purpose, earning Common Sense Education’s highest Learning Rating. The program now reaches 1.5 million students across thousands of schools worldwide, including major U.S. districts like Des Moines Public Schools, Rockford Public Schools, Douglas County School District, and the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education. Supported by systemwide training and expert guidance, Wayfinder empowers young people to discover direction, meaning, and confidence in who they are and who they’re becoming.

10+ years ago, we set out to help students navigate uncertainty with purpose, belonging, and future-ready skills. A deca...
09/04/2026

10+ years ago, we set out to help students navigate uncertainty with purpose, belonging, and future-ready skills. A decade later, here’s what the data says.

Swipe through for highlights from our Decade of Impact report, and read the full report (and press release) at the link in our bio!

As we move forward, we’re excited to share that Wayfinder has joined Lemnis as a nonprofit division—our next chapter in a decade-long mission to help students build the skills that matter most for school, work, and life. 🎉

Nothing changes about our day-to-day work or who we are. Our curriculum, team, and commitment to the districts and educators we serve remain the same. What’s new is the support behind us. Lemnis is a public charity dedicated to expanding learning for all, and as part of the Lemnis Collective, we join Mainstay and InsideTrack—two organizations that have had a demonstrable impact on students’ journeys to and through college.  

From day one of conversations, Lemnis understood our vision. This new home lets us move faster on our mission, with a network of like-minded organizations, deep expertise in research and growth, and the freedom to invest in what matters long-term instead of chasing quarterly results.  

Thank you to our district partners, educators, and team for a decade of trust. Here’s to what’s next—together with Lemnis!

09/02/2026

Des Moines Public Schools wanted one common language for durable skills, PreK-12. In this video, Alyson Finley shares how she and her team made that happen.

“That's why our work with Wayfinder has gone so well this year. Everybody knows the importance of using Wayfinder as our tool to teach those durable, future-ready skills for students."

📍 Road trip stop 15: Moraine Lake, ABSuper Sea Star was up before sunrise to see why Moraine Lake earned the nickname "t...
09/01/2026

📍 Road trip stop 15: Moraine Lake, AB

Super Sea Star was up before sunrise to see why Moraine Lake earned the nickname "the $20 view"—the lake and mountains are so beautiful that they appear on the back of the Canadian $20 bill.

That's Agency in action: choosing to seek out the real thing and see it for yourself instead of just taking someone else's word for it. It's one of the six Core Skills—Self-Awareness, Adaptability, Empathy, Collaboration, Agency, and Purpose—that Wayfinder's elementary curriculum helps students build, lesson by lesson. 🌱

📍 Road trip stop 14: Joffre Lakes, BCMore than 1500 feet up, three lakes to go, and Harlow packed for it—tools in one po...
08/28/2026

📍 Road trip stop 14: Joffre Lakes, BC

More than 1500 feet up, three lakes to go, and Harlow packed for it—tools in one pocket, snacks in the other. Half the trail was steep. All of it was worth it!

That's adaptability at work: preparing for what's ahead, adjusting when the ground shifts, and finding your footing anyway. It's one of our six Core Skills—Self-Awareness, Adaptability, Empathy, Collaboration, Agency, and Purpose—that our elementary curriculum helps students build, lesson by lesson.

Kids build these skills everywhere: on a trail, in a classroom, at the kitchen table. Our job is to make sure school is one more place where it happens on purpose. 🌱

Your school and district leaders are already holding a lot together.Budgets. Culture. Whatever comes next. They show up ...
08/27/2026

Your school and district leaders are already holding a lot together.

Budgets. Culture. Whatever comes next. They show up for all of it, every day.

But the last few years have reshaped what it takes to prepare students for life after high school. The skills that set students apart in a world shaped by automation are human ones—like Empathy, Collaboration, Agency, and Purpose. They're also the hardest to measure.

Your leaders shouldn't have to build and measure them alone.

Wayfinder gives them one tool to teach, track, and build skills across PreK-12.

✅ Yearlong PreK-12 Core Curriculum
✅ 2000+ ready-to-use activities
✅ Hundreds of Tier 2 + 3 MTSS interventions
✅ One unified hub of assessments, surveys, and insights
✅ Screen-free options for every grade level

Educators report real results: 83% saw higher engagement in their classroom after a Wayfinder lesson, and 72% noticed improved student behavior.

Make this the year you try Wayfinder! Get sample curriculum here: https://wfndr.co/4gy0ZUy

“Belonging is an academic strategy”—not a nice-to-have, not an add-on, but a key part of the work of schools.Alicia Joha...
08/27/2026

“Belonging is an academic strategy”—not a nice-to-have, not an add-on, but a key part of the work of schools.

Alicia Johal, Assistant Principal at Lincoln Middle School, gets it: when students feel supported, their whole academic journey shifts in a positive direction.

We have a great place to start:
☀️ Get our Belonging Checklist here: https://wfndr.co/4gsQ1AD

Riley, Harlow, and Super Sea Star made it to Canada! 🇨🇦📍 Road trip stop 13: Cheakamus Lake, BCRiley really had to flex h...
08/25/2026

Riley, Harlow, and Super Sea Star made it to Canada! 🇨🇦

📍 Road trip stop 13: Cheakamus Lake, BC

Riley really had to flex his resilience to get to this high-up view of Cheakamus Lake. It gets its brilliant turquoise color from rock flour—the fine powder that glaciers grind from rock over thousands of years. It floats in the water and refracts light into that unforgettable blue-green hue.

Follow our elementary school characters' journey:
https://wfndr.co/4zyh6u1 🌳

Community agreements build an open, trusting environment where students (and staff) can be themselves. Co-creating commu...
08/24/2026

Community agreements build an open, trusting environment where students (and staff) can be themselves. Co-creating community agreements sets the foundation for connection and growth year-round.

That's why Wayfinder offers resources for building these agreements together and checking in on them throughout the year. They're fun, they set the tone, and they make students active participants in their classroom from day one.

🔑 Try the activity here: https://wfndr.co/4hYsYie

What if students started building key human skills on day one in your district? Thirteen years later, they'd graduate tr...
08/19/2026

What if students started building key human skills on day one in your district? Thirteen years later, they'd graduate truly future-ready because those skills compound with every year of practice.

Some districts hold that vision in a formal student success framework—often called a Portrait of a Graduate, Vision of a Learner, or similar—setting goals and tracking progress over time. Others bring those values to life in their own way.

However you do it, the goal is the same: developing students who graduate knowing who they are, why they're here, and how to work with the people around them. That's what years of practicing self-awareness, purpose, and agency build, along with the resilience and motivation to carry it forward.

Wayfinder builds these skills year after year.

Here's a few resources to help you no matter where you are in planning:

📗 Read about what it looks like for students to be future-ready in the age of AI and screentime in our recent white paper here: https://wfndr.co/3Ty6Kd5

✏️ Plan your student success framework implementation with our workbook here: https://wfndr.co/4fV7r7H

08/18/2026

We asked kids what Wayfinder's Core Skills actually look like in real life. Their answers might be better than ours...


Des Moines Public Schools

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