Organizational History
Partners in School Innovation was founded in 1993 with the aim of eliminating the racial achievement gap in public education. Co-founders Kim Grose and Julien Phillips recognized the need for major institutional change in education and believed deeply in the potential of talented and civic-minded agents to foster that change. They developed a model to create systemic improvements in low-income schools by enlisting the support of AmeriCorps members, or Partners. Over a decade later, more than 200 AmeriCorps Partners have graduated from our program, completing a combined total of over 400,000 hours of service.

We continue to believe in the power of social change agents to drive systemic reform, to engage people in direct action to meet important social and community needs. In 2004, we began developing a new kind of social change agent—School Innovation Partners (SIPs) (formerly known as School Improvement Fellows) —former urban educators and reform-minded individuals who have combined their classroom and leadership experience with a passion for leading school improvement. In 2006, we successfully transitioned away from the AmeriCorps program to the School Innovation Partners. With their experience, results-orientation and knowledge, our team of SILs enable our schools to become even more vibrant and equitable learning environments for all students.

Since our founding, we have partnered with nine districts and over 40 schools serving over 60,000 students, teachers and principals. Learn more about our current and former partner schools.