Big Rock Educational Services, LLC

🎓✨ Graduation Season 2026 ✨🎓

This season, we’re celebrating the students reaching one of life’s biggest milestones: graduation. Every late night, challenge overcome, and moment of growth has led to this achievement, and it deserves to be celebrated.

At Big Rock Educational Services, we know student success is powered by the people behind the scenes: educators who show up every day, leaders who build strong systems, and school communities that believe deeply in what students can accomplish.

Congratulations to the Class of 2026! And to every teacher, campus leader, and support staff member who helped make these moments possible. Your impact reaches far beyond the stage. 🎉

🧠 A huge thank you to everyone who joined Chelsea Harned and Kristen McQuillan for The Hidden Architecture of Reading Comprehension at ResearchED NYC this past weekend!

The conversation in that room was a powerful reminder of why this work matters: when we better understand how working memory and long-term memory shape reading comprehension, we can design classrooms that support all students to become stronger readers.

And the learning didn't stop there. ResearchED brought together researchers, educators, and organizations all working toward the same goals for students — and the throughline was clear: the science of learning can't live in silos. It has to be woven into every layer of the work that develops teachers and leaders — from preparation and training to day-to-day coaching — and across every subject area, not just literacy.

That's exactly the work BRES is committed to alongside our partner districts — and we're coming back energized and ready to keep pushing it forward. 🙌

81% of BRES partner campuses increased their accountability score this year — with average gains exceeding 10 points.

That's not a coincidence. That's what consistent, aligned work looks like across leadership, systems, and instruction.

Want to know how? The full story is in the BRES Impact Report. 👇

Impact Report Link: https://lnkd.in/gpFAn_5f

The numbers from tell a powerful story. 📊

✅ First B rating in 25 years

✅ 80% reduction in in-school suspensions

✅ 94% authentic student engagement rate

These results didn't happen by accident. They happened because leaders and teachers made a deliberate, systematic commitment to rigorous Tier 1 instruction using high-quality instructional materials and to ensuring every student was authentically engaged in every learning experience. The 94% authentic student engagement rate measured using BRES tools in classrooms and the 80% reduction in in-school suspensions reported by the district together tell a fuller story: when schools invest strategically in the quality of daily instruction, the impact reaches far beyond what any single data point can capture.

And that B rating? Jubilee's first in 25 years — earned through broad gains in student achievement and growth across the district.

This is just one story in this year's BRES Impact Report. There's more to explore. 👇

Impact Report Link: https://tinyurl.com/BRESImpact

This week, we pause to celebrate the educators who show up every single day — prepared, committed, and determined to make a difference for every student.

To the teachers in our partnership districts and campuses: your dedication to the craft of teaching is the foundation everything else is built on. We are honored to do this work alongside you.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week from all of us at Big Rock Educational Services. 💙

Principal Appreciation Week is a reminder of why this work matters!

To every campus leader we've had the privilege of partnering with: behind every school that grows is a leader who shows up early, leans in hard, and never stops believing in their students.

BRES is honored to walk alongside you.

Thank you for trusting us as your partner. 🤝

"What changed our district is that they didn't shift students — they shifted adults. We didn't replace our teachers or our kids; we trained our leaders, and the outcomes changed."

Dr. Atikah Shemshack, one of our partner superintendents, shared these words after BRES spent a year working alongside her district — building leader capacity around classroom rigor, authentic student engagement, and high-quality instructional materials in reading language arts.

The work wasn't about replacing what was there. It was about equipping the adults already in the building to lead differently — and watching outcomes follow.

This quote is just one piece of the picture. Our Impact Report is full of partner voices, data, and stories from this year's work.

Link: https://tinyurl.com/BRESImpact

🧠 What does working memory have to do with reading comprehension?

Short answer: almost everything.

At ResearchED NYC 2026, our own Chelsea Harned will be co-presenting The Hidden Architecture of Reading Comprehension alongside Kristen McQuillan — peeling back the cognitive science behind why comprehension is so hard to teach, and what we can actually do about it.

If you’ll be there, we’d love to see you at the session. And if you’re interested in continuing the conversation—whether around reading comprehension or cognitive science related to teaching and learning—Chelsea would welcome the chance to connect.

One of the biggest shifts we see in strong instructional leaders:

They stop thinking about feedback as something they deliver…
and start thinking about it as something they design.

Dr. Tracee Barlow, Assistant Principal at , is doing exactly that.

Using BRES tools and the See It, Name It, Do It approach, they are intentionally planning debrief conversations to:

-Create immediate trust so teachers feel supported, not evaluated
-Invite teacher thinking through authentic two-way dialogue
-Land on one clear, actionable next step that improves instruction right away

Because impactful feedback isn’t about saying more—it’s about saying the right thing, in the right way, at the right time.

That level of precision is what turns a conversation into a change in practice—and better outcomes for students.

The most impactful feedback conversations don’t start with what the leader says—they start with how the leader shows up.

Matthew Austin, AP at , is using See It, Name It, Do It to prepare for and lead debrief conversations that actually move instruction:

-Putting teachers at ease so feedback feels like partnership, not evaluation
-Building trust to open space for honest, two-way dialogue
-Naming precise, actionable next steps grounded in what was observed

Because strong observation isn’t the goal—instructional improvement is.

With BRES tools and systems, this leader is turning feedback conversations into moments of clarity, ownership, and real change for students.

Principal Fellows at Fort Worth ISD leaned in—engaging deeply in what it takes to make observation and feedback truly impactful.

With their BRES Leadership Coach, Dr. Monica Garrett, they explored See It, Name It, Do It and what it means to:

-Give clear, actionable coaching
-Build trust and partnership
-Focus on precise next steps that improve instruction

You could see it in the chart paper and hear it in the conversations—these future leaders are building the foundation for the impact they will soon lead.

We can’t wait to see where they take it.