written by Ledyard McFadden, SchoolWorks Founder and Managing Partner
This summer SchoolWorks will turn 20!
There are so many things that can be said with confidence about our positive impact and the fun we have had making a productive difference in public education. From our long standing work helping schools assess their performance and plan for the future to our current work to train educators in the recognition of excellent instruction, SchoolWorks makes a difference. Just read our case studies to see the varied paths to impact we have had the fortune to blaze over the last two decades.
So much can be said, but I think, as founder, I will say something about the people. In our organization’s history, there would not have been any impact without great clients who seek partners over gurus, who care about their students and learn with us as much as from us. There would not have been any impact without great SchoolWorks team members who are skilled, prepared and creative in the face of the infinite local permutations of the challenges public schools face. Impact is synonymous with good people thoughtfully collaborating for a better future. At SchoolWorks we are lucky to have been invited by so many to help them shape a promising tomorrow for their students.
I am personally honored to have worked with so many talented, dedicated and fun-loving colleagues and clients. My gratitude stems from the recognition that salient ideas and elegant solutions rarely come from the individual. They come from teams and are the amalgam of team members’ predilections, experience, insights, personality, dedication and gumption to make something happen. Being a part of such teams is the greatest professional fulfillment of my career, and I would venture a hallmark of SchoolWorks.
There is much to celebrate in our history, but I am more intrigued by our future. The founding of SchoolWorks corresponded with the birth of my first child, and while the metaphor may be strained and overly personally, both my son and SchoolWorks have reached a wonderful maturity, still young and replete with promise but enjoying a strong array of skills and achievements. Both are poised for a bright future. For SchoolWorks, that future will unfold within unprecedented changes in education. Perhaps nothing since the printing press and the establishment of compulsory education equals the impact that research on how we learn and the rapid evolution of educational technology will have in the coming decades. I am confident we will continue to have an impact in this rapidly evolving environment because we have great people, great team members and great clients.
