We have successfully delivered a range of intermediary functions, providing supplementary support to public education in Shelby County, Tennessee, an area with a deep history of inequity, poverty and poor educational outcomes. The Shelby County School District is a public school district that serves Memphis, Tennessee as well as the unincorporated areas of the county. Securing and managing private resources to supplement the priorities and programs of public education is the core of our approach. Collaboration with the local education agency and its leadership is the bedrock of our methodology. We promote efforts that result in high achievement for students and schools. This is because we value the importance of pre-collegiate and higher education to the lives of individuals, the vitality and coherence of community, and breaking the cycle of generational poverty. We are devoted to equity and access for poor children and believe public education is the linchpin to social mobility. Historically, our approach and values have aligned with the district and schools.

SchoolSeed aligns its supports with outcome targets and the needs of school teams. We share a fiscal and outcome accountability to multiple constituents. Fulfilling our shared accountability requires close coordination, communication, and a common understanding of intent. Our projects bring our alignment with an national school improvement work to life. One example is the Innovation Zone (iZone) implementation. The iZone was developed to turnaround chronically low performing schools. SchoolSeed supported the nationally recognized turnaround model and the District by raising private resources to support the nationally recognized work of low performing schools. SchoolSeed managed its professional development budget supported with private dollars, sponsoring teacher recognition programs, providing a Teacher Toolbox and Store to offset the cost of school supplies for teachers, partnering with Team Read in Shelby County Schools where 1000 volunteers provided reading support for students from PreK-3rd grade, developing a Parent Resource Guide and sponsoring Parent University, and by organizing an annual Alumni Hall of Fame Gala to raise funds for supplemental programs not a part of the District\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s core budget. A Chess Club, Debate Team, and Performing Arts Projects continue to be beneficiaries of SchoolSeed support and guidance. The annual coat drive supplies indigent students with warm winter coats. In addition, high school students participate in an Equal Opportunity Group program where they travel to various sites to learn about post-secondary school options. The iZone implementation and outcomes have had extensive evaluation and research (incorporated into the continuous quality improvement process) regarding its effectiveness in achieving outcomes via the Tennessee Education Research Alliance supported by Vanderbilt University and the Peabody College of Education.