Partnership Includes Pilot Program to Focus on Finding Quality PreK

Oakland, CA, February 27, 2014 — GreatSchools and the City of Indianapolis are working together to help Indianapolis parents understand their full range of options when choosing preK-12 schools for their families. The partnership will include a new pilot program to expand information about preK and help families find high-quality programs.

The GreatSchools Indianapolis partnership helps parents by combining the local insights and information of the city with the technology, data, and reach of GreatSchools, the nation’s leading source of independent school information for parents. The new partnership will expand on work GreatSchools has been doing in Indianapolis since 2011, including:

• A new community-focused website, greatschools.org/Indianapolis, with in-depth profiles of more than 600 preK-12 schools — public, public charter, and private — as well as articles and information to help parents navigate the school application process and to support learning at home.
• The print GreatSchools Indianapolis School Chooser, which is especially valuable for families who have less internet access. Nearly 15,000 copies of the School Chooser  were distributed last year.
• On-the-ground efforts to bring information and coaching to families through community events and collaborations with local partners.
• A new pilot program to help families understand the importance of high-quality preK and preschool — and then find quality programs in their community.

“We are excited to partner with GreatSchools to provide these valuable services to the parents and families of Indianapolis,” said Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard. “These tools will aid parents in selecting the best school for their students and will also bring them easy-to-access information about early childhood education options.”

“Working with local partners has helped GreatSchools bring Indianapolis parents the most current and relevant information about their school options,” said GreatSchools CEO and Founder Bill Jackson. “We’re extremely pleased to partner with the City of Indianapolis to expand this important work and reach many more families, including families with children in the crucial early learning years.”

Every community is unique and has different school options. Families looking for great schools need the most relevant and current local school information. Recognizing this need, GreatSchools launched the new GreatSchools Local  program to partner with city agencies, community groups, and local education leaders to deliver the best local school information to families. GreatSchools Local  builds on the organization’s experience working in Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Washington, DC. Several new GreatSchools Local partnerships will launch later this year.

About GreatSchools

Founded in 1998, GreatSchools is a national nonpartisan nonprofit that helps millions of parents find great schools, support great learning, and guide their kids to great futures. Our Webby award-winning website, GreatSchools.org, is the nation’s leading guide to preK-12 schools, with profiles of about 200,000 public, public charter, and private schools and more than one million ratings and reviews by parents, teachers, and students. In addition, GreatSchools offers thousands of articles, videos, and worksheets to help parents support their children’s learning. Last year, GreatSchools had 52 million unique visitors, including more than half of all U.S. families with school-age children. Headquartered in Oakland, California, GreatSchools has local programs and offices in Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Washington, DC.

Follow GreatSchools on Twitter at @GreatSchools, on Facebook at facebook.com/greatschools, and on Pinterest at pinterest.com/greatschools.

January 7, 2014, San Francisco — GreatSchools has added significant new data about student progress and success to help parents in Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Ohio find higher-performing K-12 schools that are a great fit for their children.

In addition to results from standardized tests, GreatSchools Ratings for schools in the four states now include measurements of:
• whether or not students are making academic progress over time
• high school graduation rates
• college readiness

“We know parents want more detailed information about schools and incorporating new data into the GreatSchools Rating is a big step forward,” says GreatSchools Founder and CEO Bill Jackson. “We’re always working to help parents get better information so they can make the best school decisions for their families.”

Last year, GreatSchools reached more than 50 million people, including more than half of U.S. families with school-aged children. The GreatSchools Rating helps parents compare the academic performance of all public and public charter schools (and private schools where data is available). School profiles on GreatSchools also provide reviews by parents, teachers, and students, and advice for parents about visiting schools and gathering information as part of their school selection process.

In addition to these four states, the new data is also included in GreatSchools Ratings for schools in Indiana, Washington, D.C., and Milwaukee, where GreatSchools pilot tested the additional data in 2012. In other states, the GreatSchools Rating continues to be based on results from standardized tests, but the organization will incorporate new school data as more states make the information available.

Incorporating new data is one of several ways GreatSchools is working to bring parents better school information and insight. The GreatSchools Local program, for example, establishes partnerships with city and state organizations to provide the most relevant and current local school information. GreatSchools also works with school leaders to highlight important aspects of a school, such as school climate and special programs offered at the school.

Founded in 1998, GreatSchools is a national nonprofit that helps millions of parents find great schools, support great learning, and guide their kids to great futures. Our Webby award-winning website, GreatSchools.org, is the nation’s leading guide to preK-12 schools, with profiles of about 200,000 public and private schools and more than one million ratings and reviews by parents, teachers, and students. In addition, GreatSchools offers thousands of articles, videos, and worksheets to help parents support their children’s learning. Headquartered in San Francisco, GreatSchools has local offices and programs in Indianapolis, Washington, D.C., and Milwaukee.

San Francisco, November 15, 2013 — Almost 4 in 10 users of GreatSchools.org are “not at all familiar” with the new Common Core State Standards, according to a recent online survey of parents, teachers and others using the popular website. While 38% of users said they were unfamiliar with the new standards, 32% said they were either extremely familiar (19%) or very familiar (13%).

However, a majority (52%) of GreatSchools users who are familiar with the Common Core State Standards said they felt positive about adoption of the standards (27% very positive, 25% somewhat positive) while 27% said they felt negative (17% very negative, 10% somewhat negative).

“This survey clearly shows that parents and the public need more information about the new Common Core State Standards,” said GreatSchools CEO and Founder Bill Jackson. “Parents want to understand what the new standards will mean for their children and their schools.”

The nation’s leading independent online and mobile source of education information for parents, GreatSchools is developing articles, videos and tools to help parents explore the new Common Core State Standards and the changes these new standards may bring to their children’s classrooms. GreatSchools’ K-5 reading, writing and math worksheets are also tagged to the Common Core State Standards to help parents and teachers find standards-related learning materials for kids.

“GreatSchools has always been a proponent of high standards. We know from research that high expectations from adults help children succeed — in the classroom and at home,” Jackson said. “We’re working to introduce parents to the Common Core State Standards and to show them what it looks like for children to be on track relative to the standards at each grade level.”