Envision Education

WHO WE ARE

The mission of Envision Education is to transform the lives of students - especially those who will be the first in their family to attend college - by preparing them for success in college, career, and life. 

We accomplish our mission through our nationally replicated Portfolio Defense assessment model, which authentically measures the most important things students need in order to succeed in college and career: academic content, leadership skills, and deeper learning competencies such as reflection and growth mindset. Portfolio Defense uniquely prepares students, particularly those who are historically underserved, to get into college and then to persist until they earn a degree. Envision is also differentiated by a focus on whole-child education that integrates rigorous academics, high-quality social-emotional learning, and critical cultural literacy. Read about our approach here.

We operate three high schools and two middle schools, serving approximately 1,500 students in the San Francisco Bay Area: 70% are low-income; 94% from communities of color; and 75% first generation college bound. 100% of our graduates are accepted to 2- or 4-year colleges, with 78% accepted to 4-year institutions. What’s more, our students persist in college once they enroll. Our college persistence rate is 87% from first to second year, compared to the national average of 74%. We also operate Envision Learning Partners, a coaching and training division working with schools across the country to adapt and adopt the Portfolio Defense model. ELP is working with more than 1,000 educators in 30+ school networks and reaching more than 200,000 students.

Envision Education has made an explicit commitment to becoming an exemplar network of schools with an instructional and cultural vision rooted in an anti-racist and pro-Black framework. We believe that targeted universalism–focusing on the needs of a group that has historically been marginalized–will support not only that group, but everyone, and that being explicitly anti-racist and pro-Black is essential to changing the status quo for all of our students.