Awardees In Action

The enthusiasm of this Outstanding STOP Award finalist was palpable in the daily morning meeting and welcome. With a community still struggling over concerns about COVID, Principal Chris Simmonds allays fears, and sets students on a productive course each morning with encouragement, songs and group dances across zoom for the whole school to join!

The building of Mater Brickell Academy (MBA), the latest in the Academica family of schools, is well underway in the innovation corridor of Miami, set to open in August. The MBA school will be home to a state-of-the-art 6-12 academic campus which will produce the next generation of entrepreneurs. Students have their own individual investment

When the Dallas Education Foundation won the STOP 2021 Finalist award for Transformational, we knew the visionary behind the virtual platform for this big city district would make her mark. Taylor Shead has been bringing her vision of the “education metaverse” to every community and school she knows. The Dallas Observer profiled her in the

The Grand Prize winner of the inaugural $1 million STOP Award – the Discovery Center of Springfield – had to step up to the bat again in early January when schools refused to serve students. As schools are closing due to staff shortages and staff absences, the “Emergency Discovery School Program” offers an important option

Rock by Rock seeks to change the way educators teach and students learn so that all education settings truly prepare kids to thrive in our creator economy. Their ready-to-use curriculum provides kids access to a diverse set of real world experts and organizations, as well as on-demand professional development for educators. Rock by Rock is

Friendship Public Charter School, a charter network based in Washington DC, was featured in an op-ed article in “The Sun” highlighting the creation of pods to serve those students that needed an option for in-person learning. Using data to inform their decisions, Friendship’s students have excelled thanks to the power of small-group learning environments.