Learning Works is more than a school—it’s a movement.

We have an approach to poor families that works, and a means to improve the city’s dropout rates. Our goal is to end poverty through education and the social/economic breakdown of families by ending the family dropout cycle. We realized the existing system just did not know how to re-engage, welcome or serve dropouts, so we started a charter school where the dropout is the customer. We see our role as advocates for the poor and disengaged, with one goal: all youth deserve a high school diploma.

The mission of Learning Works Charter School is to provide a personalized, rigorous academic program and relevant life skills to traditionally underserved students in grades 6-12 who have withdrawn or are in danger of withdrawing from mainstream education without attaining a high school diploma. The youth we serve would inaccurately be called “at-risk.” They are, in fact, “in crisis” or have already demonstrated a behavior or condition that exceeds at-risk, such as becoming pregnant, dropping out of school or entering the juvenile delinquency system.