Rooted School Foundation is a nonprofit network of schools across multiple cities. Every campus shares the same North Star: every graduate with a college acceptance and a job offer.
Rooted School Foundation reimagines the role that schools play in providing students with personal pathways to financial freedom and then scales those opportunities so that more students may excel in school and after graduation.
The network was founded in New Orleans, where Rooted School built the model around a single promise: 100% college acceptance, 100% job offer upon graduation. Not as a selective admissions school, but as a tuition-free public charter open to any family in the enrollment area. The model was then replicated in Vancouver, Washington; Indianapolis, Indiana; Columbia, South Carolina; and now Cleveland, Ohio.
Each campus is adapted to the city it serves. The career pathways reflect local employer demand. The community partners bring local institutional relationships. The leadership comes from people with roots in that place. But the academic model, the advisory structure, the Double Helix design, and the North Star are the same.
Rooted School Foundation currently operates or is developing campuses in five cities. Each is a tuition-free public charter school designed around the same model with local career pathways and community partners.
The founding campus, where the Rooted model began. The North Star it holds every campus to: 100% college acceptance and 100% job offer upon graduation.
Rooted School Vancouver serves students in Southwest Washington with career pathways aligned to the Pacific Northwest economy.
Rooted School Indianapolis serves students in Indiana with career-connected pathways and the same college-and-career dual outcome.
C.R. Neal Academy is opening Fall 2027 in Columbia, South Carolina, authorized through Voorhees University.
Rooted School Cleveland is opening Fall 2027 in Cleveland, Ohio, with career pathways in health sciences, advanced manufacturing, and information technology.
Jonathan Johnson is the founder and CEO of three interconnected organizations focused on building infrastructure for youth economic mobility. Rooted School Foundation is a network of public charter schools across New Orleans, Indianapolis, Vancouver, Columbia, and Cleveland, focused on accelerating upward mobility faster than local projections. Fifty is a nonprofit that designs, tests, and scales cash transfer programs for school-aged youth; its flagship initiative, The $50 Study, is backed by the world's largest randomized controlled trial of youth cash transfers and has demonstrated statistically significant gains in student attendance, financial capability, and a 15% student savings rate. Green Channel Development Corporation focuses on educational facility acquisition and management, building the physical infrastructure schools need to thrive long-term. An Aspen Economic Opportunity Fellow, Jonathan holds a BA from Chapman University.
Steven Carney is the Chief of Schools and Senior Director of Growth and Innovation at Rooted School Foundation. In this role, he designs and scales the systems, playbooks, and partnerships that enable Rooted to expand nationally while maintaining fidelity to its mission of closing the wealth gap for young people of color. Before stepping into this national role, Steven served as the Founding Executive Director of Rooted School Vancouver, where he led the design, launch, and growth of the network's first Pacific Northwest campus, building a model for career-connected learning and inclusive excellence. He is also the CEO of two organizations he founded: IMPACT Learning and Leading Group and the Center for Data Collaboration and Results, both focused on leadership development, organizational learning, and data-driven improvement in education. His career in public education began in 1997 and has spanned teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, regional director, system leader, founder, and consultant. He co-authored Implement with IMPACT, published by Solution Tree, and has spoken internationally on implementation science, leadership development, and equity-centered school design. Steven holds a Bachelor's in Education from San Diego State University and a Master's in Organizational Leadership from National University.
For media inquiries, partnership discussions, or to learn more about the Rooted School Foundation network, visit rootedschool.org.
Enrollment opens in late 2026. Be the first to know.
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