NewSchools Venture Fund

This Pride Month, NewSchools celebrates the LGBTQ+ community and the belief that every student deserves to feel safe, seen, and supported in their learning environment.

Students thrive when they belong. To every educator and school leader building that kind of environment: thank you.

Want to explore how AI can strengthen teaching instead of replacing it?

NewSchools is co-sponsoring a convening at UC Berkeley hosted by Travis Bristol and colleagues at UC Berkeley CREEO alongside venture leaders at The Urban Assembly: AI as an Equity Lever for Teaching Quality and Student Growth. Join us on July 8. Registration is free.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfWnGZHKbsqSJWgyC_0Wk_HJRmPUkVBETlMxPt_N4YNnsWmUw/viewform?usp=dialog

UC Berkeley CREEO AI Convening for Teaching Quality and Equity | Travis J. Bristol, Ph.D. posted on the topic | LinkedIn Not enough of the conversations about AI have centered & ! So, here's our response AI as an Equity Lever for Teaching Quality and Student Growth Hosted by the UC Berkeley CREEO in partnership with The Urban Assembly, Inc. Wednesday, July 8, 2026 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. MLK Jr Buil...

Nandi Edouard spent 18 months engaging more than 1,000 Metro Atlanta residents before opening a single classroom. This is the school her community asked for.

In their first year, students at The Simple Vue Academy grew 20 to 30% in math and reading. They also ran a student marketplace where Edouard paid out every dollar they earned. "I gave them cold, hard cash in their hands for what they did."

The school is Douglas County's first entrepreneurship-focused charter middle school and a NewSchools venture.

Nandi Edouard turns community ask into Simple Vue Academy Nandi Edouard founded The Simple Vue Academy to give Black and brown students a real path to economic mobility through entrepreneurship and financial literacy

Last week, NewSchools had the honor of presenting Teacher of Excellence Award to Judy Cappuccio — a former engineer, former lawyer, and now the brilliant leader of the STEM team at a UA school for young women.

Congratulations, Judy. And thank you to Urban Assembly for letting us be part of this moment.

Graduation season is almost over, and students everywhere are earning credentials and proving what's possible. Some schools are celebrating their very first graduating class.

To every student, school, teacher, team, and founder who put in the work: this milestone belongs to you.

Comment to share your graduation moments and milestones with us!

Be your boldest self. Your brightest self. The version of you that breaks the mold, shatters expectations, sings, dances, laughs out loud, and refuses to leave any part of yourself at the door.

- Frances Messano

Two views are dominating how schools are thinking about AI right now.

The first: "Anything AI can do faster than a human, it should." Move fast, scale everywhere, let efficiency lead. The second: slow it down, ban it, protect kids from it.

Both are missing what matters most.

Kim Smith introduces us to human flourishing. The question isn't speed or safety. It's whether we're using AI intentionally to help young people build agency, purpose, and confidence.

Now is the time to get this right: while the models are still being built, the norms are still being set, and educators still have the power to shape what this looks like in classrooms.

This worldview doesn't happen by default. It has to be chosen.

Watch Kim's full session:

What Is School Actually For? | Kim Smith | NewSchools Summit 2026 What if human flourishing — not test scores — were the north star f...

Woo! We're excited to welcome Destiny Allen to NewSchools as our new Grantmaking Operations Manager.

Growing up in Flint, Michigan shaped Destiny's belief that the most effective solutions are built with and by the communities they serve. We believe that too.

She's spent her career putting that into practice, most recently at TRAILS, where she led a statewide equity initiative to expand mental health access for students in under-resourced Michigan communities.

At NewSchools, she'll be supporting our ventures through every stage of our grant-making cycle.

When she's not working, Destiny's exploring Detroit's restaurant scene, walking her dog Luna along the riverfront, or tackling an interior design project.

Help us give her a warm welcome! Detroit friends, drop your best restaurant recs. Not from Detroit? How about your favorite spot to walk your pup? 🦮