From left to right: Joshua Elder, Siegel Family Endowment; Alexandra DeLuca, Xchange Chicago; Olu Olaleye, Xchange Chicago; Jarquetta Egeston, Xchange Chicago; Brad Gunton, New Visions for Public Schools; Elliot Ronen, New Visions for Public Schools; Jamie Jutila; Walton Family Foundation. Photo by Mahyar Dini.

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New Visions for Public Schools has been selected out of 272 initial submissions as a grand-prize winner in the $2.2 million Learning Landscapes Challenge, an 18-month competition sponsored by the Siegel Family Endowment and the Walton Family Foundation. The challenge invited teams to propose innovative solutions that combined digital, social, and physical infrastructure to drive improved learning and life outcomes for young people. New Visions will receive $500,000 to continue implementing and scaling its solution.

New Visions is the key technology partner for Every Child and Family Is Known—a groundbreaking initiative that addresses the needs of students experiencing housing insecurity in New York City Public Schools (NYCPS). New Visions is proud to partner with NYCPS, the Children’s Cabinet, the Department of Homeless Services, the Administration for Children’s Services, the Department of Social Services/Human Resources Administration, and the Center for Innovation through Data Intelligence, to better identify and meet the needs of students and families living in shelters. The Every Child and Family Is Known program leverages the Portal by New Visions as digital infrastructure that facilitates this unprecedented data-sharing and collaboration among city agencies. 

In the Every Child and Family Is Known program, a designated school staff member, known as a “Caring Adult,” builds trusted relationships with families and students through regular check-ins, so that students come to school feeling seen and welcomed. Caring Adults use the Portal to document individual needs and interventions, and provide every child and their family in shelter integrated and comprehensive support in a family-centered model that leverages schools as trusted hubs. The Portal enables partners to communicate, plan, and monitor the program at scale. This initiative, which began as a two-year pilot in the Bronx, has already shown promising results, including a decrease in chronic absenteeism and improved academic outcomes for participating students.

This achievement represents 18 months of intensive work—from an initial Phase 1 submission to last week’s Demo Day presentation at Cornell Tech. A highlight in this process was a six-month incubator, which provided tailored support to help teams move from planning to prototyping and implementation, and to create roadmaps for scalability. The accelerator also gave us the opportunity to learn with the four other outstanding finalist organizations. 

Congratulations to the other Phase 3 finalists: XChange Chicago (Winner), Joy Education Foundation, Empower Schools, and Perkins (Perkins School for the Blind). The competition among such strong organizations challenged all participants to produce their best work, creating a powerful collective effort. New Visions is grateful to Luminary Labs staff, the Siegel Family Endowment, and the Walton Family Foundation for believing in our vision of a more equitable education system, and their incredible support throughout this journey.