To Our Community, Partners and Supporters,

The entire Team and Board of Directors would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude for your donations and in-kind support over this past year!

We hope this message finds you all safe, warm, and protected amongst those you love most.  Because of your generosity, we have been able to navigate another year filled with uncertainty, while safely maintaining engagement with our students and families. We continue to cultivate a legacy that both you and our students can be proud of while recognizing that there is still so much more work to be done. In this, our 50th year of service, we know that the Step Up program and Open School East exist because individuals like you cared enough to contribute to this legacy.

As you begin to solidify your plans for the New Year ahead of us, I ask that you keep Open School Inc. and the community that we serve top of mind.  Let’s face it, we all read the headlines and are reminded of all the ways that the education sector is not addressing the challenges facing students and families. I want to remind you that the path of Open School has always been “different.”  

Open School Inc. has always done education differently and this has allowed us to provide one-on-one and group mentoring with our Advocates; Our Teachers and Social Emotional Learning Team have maintained innovative practices that keep students on track to graduate; and our Leadership Team has instituted practices to keep the adults at all levels of our organization, from the Janitor to the Board of Directors, balanced in their engagement with manageable expectations.

We continue to uplift at every level within our community and team. No one goes unseen, unheard, or unsupported!  While we continue to stretch our resources and capacity to strengthen community, I want you to know that we see you too and how you show up to make that stretch a reality for Open School Inc.

So here’s to another amazing year of beating the odds and overcoming obstacles!  I sincerely thank you for your commitment to our students and for being champions of education everywhere.

My best to you,

Kimberlee Pierce Sheng
Executive Director