Achievement First

Dacia was a teacher and principal in New Haven, so we'll hear a little bit about that journey, and her school posted the greatest achievement gains of any middle school in Connecticut.

Then you founded Achievement First, and AF is where I first met you in, in the charter school revolution, and here we are in the EdTech world.

So let's start there.

Can you tell us, Dacia, a little bit about your unlikely journey as an EdTech entrepreneur and founder? What led you from your teaching experience, principal experience, and charter network experience to found CourseMojo?

Yeah.

To my knowledge, those schools have never been anything less than popular among parents, especially in contrast to where my kid would have ended up if it were not for a KIPP, a Success Academy, Achievement First, Uncommon Schools, etc.

But the irony here, I mean, one, it's just kind of a cult.

What happened in, you know, around 2016? Two things.

Not only is it out of tune with the reality that some parents are intentionally opting for schools that leverage AI, but it will also limit the use cases where ed tech makes sense in traditional schooling models.

He points, for example, to Course Mojo, now led by Daisha Toll, who was the founder of Achievement First out of But now I'm going to forget New Haven, Connecticut, I believe.

Some amazing, no excuses, charter schools back in the day.

So, you know, these are people that care a lot about learning, student achievement, high expectations.