For 10 years, RISE Core Network schools have served as demonstration sites for high school innovation and network improvement, showcasing what’s possible when like-minded colleagues come together and work toward shared goals.
“From the beginning, we knew that no single solution or approach could solve the complex challenges schools face in supporting young people to graduate on time and ready for whatever comes next,” RISE Co-Founders Barbara Dalio and Emily Pallin wrote in our 2025 annual report. “We also believed that educators shouldn’t have to start their improvement journeys from scratch, and they should never have to go it alone.”
RISE Core Network school partners put improvement science principles into practice, and contextualize their change ideas in real-world settings with real-life educators and students. In so doing, they demonstrate not only what works, but how and why it works.
To spread effective approaches across the RISE Network, mutually-supportive relationships between educators are key.
A recent gathering of the Grade 9 Focus Network (G9FN) — a community of educators from 19 schools across 3 states working to strengthen structures, systems, and practices around the Grade 9 transition — illustrates the power of this collective approach to innovation and improvement.
When G9FN members arrived at Manchester High School, a Core Network partner school since 2019, they were met with live music from the school band, affirmations from the cheer squad, and a wall of smiling students standing shoulder to shoulder welcoming visitors into their learning community.
Nichelle Woodson, Chief of Network Success at RISE, had arrived earlier in the morning to make sure everything was in order for the long day of learning and collaboration. From behind the registration table, she heard a thrumming. She felt a growing electricity vibrating the air around her. She had to check it out.
“You bet I walked outside and back in!” she exclaims. “I had to experience that energy. It was such a positive and powerful way to welcome educators into the space.”
Woodson explains that while the school entry was spectacular, it wasn’t about the spectacle. Rather, it reflected the Manchester team’s deep knowledge of how to intentionally create spaces in which educators who don’t have pre-existing relationships can come together and quickly build meaningful connections.
“They were also really excited to host everyone,” Woodson adds. “You could feel the pride they have in their community.”
From there, participants heard from Dr. Amaka Fennimore, principal of Manchester High. She shared a riveting history of the local community, positioning the school squarely within that narrative. She spoke to the centrality of relationships as demographic and other changes have unfolded around the school, and she shared how staff responded by creating an energizing space where everyone in the neighborhood feels welcome.
She also succinctly explained her leadership approach: “People are the strategy.” And she reminded everyone that “transformation does not occur overnight” — wise counsel for the many participants just embarking on their Grade 9 on-track efforts.
Finally, whether they were just starting out or were years into innovating on their Grade 9 change ideas, Dr. Fennimore facilitated a series of activities where participants got to talk with someone new.
Woodson says that after that intentional opening, the group was now primed for a day of deep inquiry and collaboration
Peter Lorinser, RISE Deputy Director of Engagement, concurs.
Lorinser oversees coaching for schools in the G9FN. School visits are often a highlight of the network experience: educators deeply value opportunities to learn from colleagues who can share practical insights on what’s worked and what hasn’t, and hear about improvement strategies directly from staff, students, and even families.
The goal, always, is for participants to leave with new relationships and concrete takeaways for their school.
When preparing for school visits, RISE’s purposeful planning starts months in advance. After getting to know network participants and their schools, RISE team members select a host school whose story and strategies will resonate with the most pressing needs of school teams across the network.
From there, RISE staff and school teams partner to co-design the agenda. Linzi Golding, Senior School Improvement Coach, and Daemond Benjamin, Network Operations Specialist, served as the architects of this G9FN learning experience, partnering with the Manchester team to co-design a shared vision and expertly coordinating every detail to bring that vision to life.
The Manchester team was committed to sharing their whole playbook — “the good, the bad, and the ugly” — offering participants an uncommonly forthright portrayal of their improvement journey. While successes help participants imagine outcomes that might otherwise feel out of reach, the Manchester team was also eager to share the hiccups and obstacles they encountered along the way. They know firsthand how valuable it has been to learn those types of lessons from other RISE Core Network school partners over the years.
During a pre-visit to the school site, the RISE team walks through the location to map out and experience how participants will move throughout the day. They identify issues with space or timing. They adjust initial plans and develop contingencies. Golding and Benjamin engineered every phase of the G9FN gathering alongside Manchester staff to ensure the environment, at every stage, reflected our shared belief that relationships are the foundation of meaningful improvement.
“This is just how we do PD,” Lorinser explains. “We plan every single inch of it.”
They also review which participants have signed up for which breakout groups, and craft table seating arrangements to strategically connect network participants with colleagues whose insights the RISE team suspects will prove fruitful.
“There are lots of ‘meet-cutes’!” Lorinser laughs.
“Look, we’re really focused on building a ‘network of networks,’” he explains. “We don’t want our model to look like a wheel, where everyone is connected via a single spoke to RISE in the middle. We want educators connected to us and directly to one another.”
It’s working. When School Improvement Coach Steph Cruz followed up with a new on-track coordinator to facilitate an introduction to Manchester’s on-track coach, she learned that they had exchanged information during the G9FN visit and had already met up to share resources. It was one of the many serendipitous encounters RISE team members observed throughout the day that sparked a new, lasting relationship.
The opportunity for educators to learn from others who are walking a similar path but who are in very different places in their improvement journeys is invaluable.
During a breakout session on summer programming, Woodson had the opportunity to listen as G9FN participants discussed problems of practice related to their improvement goals: Have you thought about ___? Here’s what we tried — I wonder if something like that could work for you? I’ve always wanted to do this, but had no idea where to start… until you and I spoke today. I’m working through this strategy, but don’t quite have it all figured out yet… and I know that’s okay.
“I was reminded of something I’ve long known: educators are deeply committed to lifting one another up,” Woodson reflects.
By modeling introspection and candor from the get-go, she adds, the Manchester team set the tone for participants to open up and share their questions and earned wisdom, their missteps and course corrections, and to problem-solve together.
That spirit of reciprocity fuels the deep, trusting relationships at heart of network improvement.
By inviting others to observe their work, RISE Core Network school partners, like Manchester High, help to build the knowledge and confidence of educators across the country, expanding proven practices — thoughtfully adapted to local contexts — to many more classrooms and schools.
That’s how we scale what works. That’s how we sustain improvement over time. That’s how we ensure every student graduates from high school with a plan and the confidence to pursue college and career success.
At RISE, we are eager to partner with schools working to promote on-track achievement, engagement, on-time high school graduation, and postsecondary access and opportunity for all students. Check out our RISE in Action: Virtual Learning Series resources to hear more lessons and practical tips from our school partners. Then connect with our team to explore which of our professional learning opportunities, including our Convenings, Symposiums, and Focus Networks, could be the right fit to help you reach your goals.