The Pitch
TrueSchool Studio is a research and design team partnering with schools, districts, and organizations to enable frontline educators to design innovative models, tools, and strategies. Together, we hypothesize, research, and imagine ‘true’ or fully realized schools—places of limitless potential for people and learning.
Amy Vreeland
The Entrepreneur
Amy Vreeland’s experiences to date have been grounded in social entrepreneurship, including building programming to develop the leadership skills of first-generation college students at a nonprofit start-up in Boulder, Colorado; working as a founding high school math teacher and Teach for America corps member in the unprecedented charter school movement in New Orleans, Louisiana; and advising undergraduates in the design of human-centered social enterprises in rural South Africa. Realizing the potential of applying a design-thinking, entrepreneurial approach to education and recognizing the need for the development and retention of high-impact, high-potential teachers, Vreeland founded TrueSchool and serves as the company’s CEO.
The Opportunity/Challenge
Our public education system is broken: only 1 in 4 students graduate ready for college and career. Educators grow frustrated while waiting for top-down reforms to address the needs of students and the challenges in their schools (among the top 20% of teachers, half will leave within 5 years). These educators, working on the front lines, are the ones best positioned to lead and execute a vision for redesign, but lack the support, resources, and opportunities to do so.
The Impact
- Collaborated with 1,137 educators across New Orleans, Chicago, and Los Angeles to drive student achievement
- Collective impact on 47,143 students
- In 2015, worked with 50 schools through their Sprint program in Chicago and Los Angeles
- Of the 50 schools, 28 continued to work with them through their year-long Solution program
- In 2016, they are seeking to double their size and run programs in four total regions, including Chicago and Los Angeles
- Educators have rated their programs experience a 4.3 out of 5. 96.5% “would definitely or probably recommend this professional learning experience to another educator.”
- Clients include: the Chicago Public Education Fund, the Jefferson Parish Public School System, Stanford University, Teach for America, and ThinkImpact
- 2015 Global Echoing Green Fellow
“One of the things I’ve found to be most challenging about launching a start up is not having a team. As a solo-founder, it was up to me to ‘make it happen’ and I missed the camaraderie that comes with a collective vision . . . until I joined Propeller. Working with my consultant, Eric, has been invaluable. He’s the thought-partner I needed to gain self-confidence, to strategize sales and program offerings, and to establish short and long-term plans. Working with the other Fellows and the Propeller staff has also been very thought-provoking. We have very different missions, yet share the aspiration to achieve wide-reaching social impact via a sustainable business/organization. I highly recommend anyone interested in launching a socially-focused venture in NOLA apply.”
Amy Vreeland
Founder and CEO, TrueSchool ('14)