TO OUR COMMUNITY

From Our Board Chair

Dear SEED Community,

Education is ever more important, author and New York Times columnist Tom Friedman notes, in a world that is increasingly “flat” and “fast.” Our interconnected, swift world was never more apparent than during the height of the COVID pandemic, when quarantining called for isolating students and closing schools as a nation and a world. We all paid a price.

As a charter network of four college-preparatory, public boarding schools, focused on providing a high-quality education to all its students, SEED is taking on the challenges associated with learning loss, teacher attrition and emotional health setbacks due to COVID. There are careful readjustments to curriculum, expertly guided by the School Support Team; steady feedback from teachers, parents, and students themselves; and a quest for innovation by redesigning learning environments until they are right.

But isn’t that the very nature of SEED from the beginning? As Lesley Poole reflects in her letter, SEED started 26 years ago by looking for creative ways to advance the educational prospects for first-generation, low income, minority students, and finding unconventional ways to achieve that. So, innovation is in our DNA and the hallmark of SEED’s valued place in the constellation of the charter school movement.

There are so many people to thank for SEED’s promise and progress. Lesley has pointed out Raj’s and Eric’s vision and how it defined the nature of the network itself. And since becoming President and Chief Executive Officer in 2015, Lesley has shepherded us, surrounded by a team of dedicated professionals, making it all look so easy. But we know that the education of students, especially at this time in the setting we have chosen, is anything but easy.

Thank you, too, for the part you are playing, whether it is having the interest to learn about SEED for the first time or being a valued member of the SEED community as a student, parent, teacher, staff or board member, or friend. We cherish your involvement and look forward to working with you, as we continue to pursue the dream articulated 26 years ago by SEED’s founders.

From Our Ceo

As I write this letter, it has been nine thousand, four hundred eleven days since Raj Vinnakota and Eric Adler founded The SEED Foundation. That is almost twenty-six years of believing that all children, regardless of their or their families’ circumstances, should be able to achieve their true potential in life and that a boarding school can be a tool by which that potential can be achieved. It is twenty-six years of asking, “What if students had access to teachers beyond 3:00 PM? What if we believed that socials skills were necessary habits for achieving lifelong success and that students needed formal and informal opportunities to learn and practice such skills? What if each student had at least one adult who knew their story, understood their joys and challenges, and believed in their dreams? What if students and families had the agency and information to select a college that was looking for first-generation, low-income, minority students, a college that has built the systems, programs, and culture to set those students up for success? What if public boarding were an educational option from which more families could choose?”.

As the most senior member of The SEED Network in terms of years of service, it will not surprise you that I am in reflection mode and probing whether SEED has made the social impact we envisioned almost three decades ago. In many ways, we have: SEED graduates earn college degree at a rate of 68 percent when they attend a right fit college or university and 48 percent when enrolling any four-year institution, outpacing the national college graduation rate of low-income, first-generation students, who earn degrees at a rate of 11 percent.

That said, looking at recent internal data, it is clear that there are still gaps to close. We have not yet reached our goals for all students, but the SEED community is committed to closing the gaps for its students and to ensuring that each SEED school consistently delivers high quality programming. In our twenty-six years, we have learned so much, and we are drawing on that depth of experience in order to chart a pathway forward.

So much about the SEED experience is difficult to quantify. One example is the idea of a personal network. We all know that no one succeeds alone, but we often take for granted the power of our own networks. Have you ever thought about how your own networks (friends, family, profession-based connections, alma mater, etc.) have helped you get into the best school, find a better job, start a new business, obtain a fellowship, and more? SEED graduates, those young adults who have been part of the SEED community since they were in middle school or ninth grade, continue to have invested adults they met at SEED who have become part of their personal networks. They also have each other, the growing network of SEED graduates across the country. But by being a part of the SEED community, they also have the opportunity to build and tap into networks (often including yours) they would have not had the opportunity to do so otherwise.

It takes time to build mutually deep, trusting relationships, and deep relationships are needed, not merely for the purpose of supporting students in doing their best academically, building a set of social and emotional competencies, or engaging in exposure opportunities, but also because having a reliable network is a priceless asset and might just support the journey of a first-generation, low-income, minority student to create a second generation of college graduates. For me, this is one of the most powerful answers to the question, “Why SEED?”

Thank you for your continued partnership, support, and for being an important member of SEED’s network.

“The quality education that SEED offers is so important to the community. It provides resources that didn’t exist and makes it possible for families to grow and to break the cycle of poverty.”