The Beacon Story

Inspiration:
On January 27, 2006 Tom Brown and James Reinhart found themselves discussing the challenges for public schools in Santa Cruz and beyond. Tom, a private-sector entrepreneur and former Board President of Pacific Collegiate School, and James, a former teacher and school reform addict, were deeply concerned by the latest education statistics:

• Growing Achievement Gap: by high school, black and Hispanic students score, on average, four years behind whites and Asians on standardized tests in reading and math.
• Weak College Preparatory Curriculum: In 2005 only 51.6% of 2,690 graduating seniors in Santa Cruz County had met the UC/CSU eligibility requirements. Each year 5,000 students enroll in non-college prep classes countywide.
• Low College Enrollment & Persistence Rates: 70% of all students now enrolled at California community colleges need remediation, and more than half drop out after their first year. Worse, nearly 30% of all students require remediation at four-year colleges in California.

Opportunity:
Frustrated by the limited college-preparatory curriculum being offered to students of Santa Cruz County, and inspired by the outpouring of demand for more college-prep opportunities, Tom and James set out to improve the educational opportunities available to these students and families. They thought that if they could provide small, personalized, learning communities with high expectations for all, staffed by top talent that could effectively use regular assessment data, they could improve student achievement, college enrollment, and persistence rates. In order to provide better learning opportunities for students and families they created the Beacon Education Network (BEN), a non-profit charter management organization (CMO). The two entrepreneurs pitched their idea to education philanthropist Reed Hastings; inspired by the vision and the potential for systemic change, he agreed to support the organization through a one million dollar matching grant. BEN was born.

Mission:
BEN’s mission is to increase the college readiness, enrollment, and persistence of students in Santa Cruz County and beyond until every student, in every school in America, has the opportunity to succeed in college.

Change Levers:

• Human Capital: A new generation of extraordinary teachers and principals, accountable for results and compensated for performance, is needed to improve student achievement.
• Data & Assessment: Schools need to be more disciplined and scientific in their collection and use of data and use it to provide meaningful feedback to students, teachers and administrators.
• Culture of High Expectations: Schools need to be accountable for their results (outcomes) and transparent in delivering a high quality student experience (inputs). All adults in a school community must be unified in helping to foster a culture of high expectations where every student in  every school has a team of adults that knows them well.

The Future of Public Education:
We envision a world where all students are equipped with the skills and knowledge to succeed in college and beyond. A world where students feel engaged and empowered to effect change in their communities. A world where schools partner and adapt to meet the evolving needs of students and their families.

Our Value Proposition:

• Apply our passion, experience and professional network to help meet demand for school choice and college-readiness in Santa Cruz County.
• Provide students and their families with personalized, high-quality, low-cost public education alternatives that focus on preparing students for success in college and an increasingly global workplace.
• Promote the development and use of key metrics to inform school improvement efforts, especially those aimed at understanding the needs of an aligned K-16 approach for college-readiness.
• Provide donors with reliable measures of accountability and return on investment.
• Build education solutions that are high impact, equitable and efficient.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a charter school?
Charter schools are independent public schools that allow decisions and innovation at the local level, while being held accountable for improved student achievement. Each charter school is required to submit an education program designed to support a specific “mission”.

What is Beacon’s mission?
The mission of Beacon schools is to dramatically raise student achievement while preparing students for college. We are particularly interested in those students who might be the first in their family to attend college, or who otherwise might not pursue higher education.

How does Beacon plan to accomplish its mission?
Beacon schools will have the flexibility required to provide a highly personalized college readiness academic program, combined with fine arts and foreign language training. The Beacon program involves these features that we believe will contribute to the success of our mission:

• Small school size (serving 560 students in grades 6-12)
• Longer school day and year (~30% more time on task)
• Rigorous and integrated curriculum
• Regular assessment and feedback to students, teachers and parents
• Parental education and networking
• BENCorps

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