TALENT DEVELOPMENT
Businesswire | April 27, 2023
Summer, the certified B Corp committed to addressing the national student debt crisis, announced that it has raised $6M in new capital, with $18M raised in funding to date. General Catalyst, QED Investors, Flourish Ventures, Greycroft, Story Ventures, Gaingels, Calm VC, Partnership Fund for NYC, Fenway Summer, BDMI, and Avidbank participated in the financing.
The company also announced it has surpassed $1 billion in total projected savings for borrowers, and it has hired Leigh Gross as Chief Revenue Officer to lead partnerships with recordkeepers and other financial institutions interested in Summer Secure, the company’s automated solution for SECURE 2.0 retirement matching.
Student loan debt in the United States now stands at $1.75 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve, exceeding credit card and auto debt. It is often the first meaningful debt that young people incur, and can lead to a domino effect on their financial life–making it harder to save for retirement or buy a home years after graduating. Summer works with leading financial institutions, employers, and unions to provide a high impact, comprehensive digital solution that helps individuals plan for college costs, reduce the burden of student loan debt, and optimize retirement savings. To date, the company has delivered more than $1 billion in total projected savings for borrowers across the United States, offering assistance on every leg of the personal finance journey.
“We’re thrilled to announce this new funding, especially at a time when the need for better college planning and student loan solutions has never been more acute,” said CEO and co-founder Will Sealy. “As student loan forgiveness hangs in the balance and payments are set to resume for the first time in years, we’re excited to share our solution with more people to enable them to unlock financial freedom.”
Summer’s funding comes at an exciting time for the business as it continues to expand partnerships with retirement recordkeepers and payroll providers on the heels of its partnership with Fidelity Investments in 2022. Due to the recent passage of the SECURE 2.0 Act, many institutions are turning to Summer to support their employer clients with student loan retirement matching, leveraging Summer’s digital API suite and its expertise with operationalizing complex student loan policies into high-adoption solutions.
In a recent survey, 91% of employees with student debt said they would save more money for retirement if their employer offered a student loan repayment program. By ensuring that an employee’s student loan payments count toward the retirement match provided by their employer, Summer’s workplace solution can relieve student loan borrowers from having to make an impossible decision between paying down their debt or saving for retirement.
Summer was founded in 2017 by Sealy, a former Policy Analyst and Assistant to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and a veteran of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Chief Product Officer Paul Joo, with previous experience at the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Boston Consulting Group, and Chief Product Officer Vincent Tran, who previously led product at Pave and Orchard and was an investor at the Partnership Fund for NYC.
Summer’s recent partnership milestones include a student loan benefit launched with Intuit’s personal finance subsidiary, Credit Karma, and an expanded partnership with the American Federation of Teachers to support their 1.7 million teachers, government employees, and healthcare workers. Summer will use the new funding to expand the platform to help even more borrowers with a holistic approach to financial well-being.
About Summer
Summer partners with financial institutions and employers to empower their populations to reduce education costs and student debt through proven technologies, policy expertise and human support. Founded in 2017 by industry experts, Summer’s mission is to alleviate student loan debt for 46 million borrowers by providing leading solutions for college cost planning, automated enrollment for loan assistance plans, tuition assistance, student loan contributions and retirement matching, and emergency savings. Summer is a certified B Corporation.
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TALENT DEVELOPMENT
Globenewswire | May 15, 2023
Specialized Education Services, Inc. (SESI) today announced the acquisition of NewHope Academy (NHA), a special education school in Arlington Heights, Illinois, that serves those living with autism, emotional disabilities, specific learning disabilities, or other health impairments. The addition of NHA is part of SESI’s strategic growth plan, focusing on expanding its premier education services nationally to K-12 students who require extra academic and behavioral support.
A critical element of that growth strategy, beyond working with local schools and districts to ensure all students that need special education services get the right level of quality supports, is to also identify independent providers that align with SESI’s mission and bring them into the SESI system of schools.
NewHope Academy has a long-standing reputation for providing quality education and support to students with diverse learning needs, complementing SESI’s scope of work serving learners with special needs. The acquisition will allow SESI to leverage its extensive resources and expertise to enhance both the education and support services offered at NHA, while ensuring the continued success of its student body.
“NewHope’s reputation as a provider for children with exceptionalities is exemplary and we are thrilled to have the school as part of the SESI family,” said Dawn Thomas, president of SESI. “This acquisition aligns with our goal of reaching more students who require specialized academic, emotional, and behavioral support. We look forward to working with the dedicated NewHope Academy staff to continue its outstanding legacy in special education.”
For more than 20 years, NewHope Academy has provided students ages 11-21 with both a challenging academic and therapeutic environment. Under SESI leadership, school staff will continue educating young people living with autism and those living with emotional challenges to excel in life through communication, exploration, opportunity, acceptance, accountability, and ambition.
"This is an exciting opportunity for NewHope Academy, as well as for parents and students. With SESI’s backing, we will continue our tradition of excellence in supporting students," stated Brandy Larrance, NHA executive director. "The passion SESI has for empowering learners and supporting students is evident. NHA is proud to be part of the SESI team."
The NHA addition marks SESI’s 15th program in Illinois. It is one of nearly 100 SESI day schools nationwide.
About Specialized Education Services, Inc.
Specialized Education Services, Inc. (SESI), a division of FullBloom, is a premier provider of education services for K-12 students who require additional educational and behavioral supports to overcome challenges that impede success in a traditional school setting. SESI partners with school districts to run classrooms, on-site, within district boundaries and standalone schools that meet the academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs of special education students with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Emotional Disabilities, Learning Disabilities, and other challenges. Partnering with over 600 school districts nationwide, SESI serves more than 7,000 students in day schools and in-district classrooms. SESI is accredited by Cognia.
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CORPORATE LEARNING SYSTEMS
Businesswire | April 18, 2023
Carnegie Learning, a leader in K-12 education innovation, high-quality products and services, and AI, announced today that the company has added new multilingual and bilingual certified math and literacy instructors to the high-dosage tutoring team in Gadsden County, New Mexico, to meet the needs of students in the state’s fourth-largest school district.
“It’s gratifying to see improvements in student proficiency and attendance as well as increasing parent participation in the Gadsden Independent School District (ISD),” said Courtney Lewis, Vice President of Tutoring Services at Carnegie Learning. “The results are impressive. We have been able to fulfill 100% of the requests from students and families in Gadsden ISD who requested a bilingual tutor. We’ve also appointed a bilingual tutor as a liaison to answer questions from families in their native language. Families have a direct dial number to call the liaison directly for support.”
Lewis recently presented a webinar on how to partner with a high-dosage tutoring provider to launch an effective summer school program, which can be accessed here.
Demand for high-dosage tutoring is growing among students in all grades at Gadsden ISD, led by elementary-age students, who are reaping the benefits of one-on-one and small-group tutoring. To meet the needs of the district, Carnegie Learning is expanding their offerings in Gadsden ISD with new K-12 math and literacy, SAT and PSAT preparation to their portfolio of services.
Students and their families are already feeling the impact of tutoring. A third-grade student expressed delight about their tutor, who is a certified teacher like all Carnegie Learning tutors: “I have the best teacher ever!” A kindergarten parent commented that a tutor demonstrated dedication consistently: “She did awesome with our son!”
Personalizing tutoring services to meet the needs of Gadsden ISD reflects Carnegie Learning's commitment to partnering with districts and ability to flexibly develop solutions for emerging challenges. In fact, their national high-dosage tutoring services originated when Maryland district Prince George's County Public Schools approached Carnegie Learning with a need for remote tutoring in 2020 during school closures, and Carnegie Learning built a tutoring team from scratch.
Carnegie Learning has the largest certified tutoring team in the U.S., with an ever-increasing portfolio of new curriculum offerings being added as district needs arise.
Carnegie Learning's high-dosage tutoring services include:
• Live tutors who are all certified teachers with deep content and pedagogical knowledge.
• Bilingual and multilingual tutors are available.
• Instruction that aligns with districts’ standards, scope, and sequence.
• Standards-aligned, high-quality instructional materials to support grade-level learning.
• Robust pre- and post-assessments to regularly track student growth and performance.
Carnegie Learning believes that students can reach far beyond their perceived potential, academically as well as socially and emotionally. To help students achieve this, they strive to bridge the gap between access to high-quality instructors, award-winning AI software, and high-quality instructional resources.
About Carnegie Learning, Inc.
Carnegie Learning is the leading provider of K-12 education technology, curriculum, and professional learning solutions. With award-winning offerings for K-12 math, literacy, world languages, professional learning, high-dosage tutoring, and more, Carnegie Learning is delivering real and lasting results for teachers and students. Born from more than 30 years of learning science research at Carnegie Mellon University, we are known for using the power of data to improve student performance. Our range of products allows us to support more than 2 million students and educators in all 50 states and Canada. Named a Top Place to Work for six years in a row, our 700+ employees across North America are passionate about partnering with educators in the classroom
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