Ascend
Build Aligned Leadership Teams That Drive Sustainable School Improvement
Ascend is Accelerate Institute’s most comprehensive program, designed to strengthen schools by growing entire leadership teams, from executives to principals to rising leaders.
Through expert coaching, high-quality professional development, cohort learning, and a specialized set of tools, Ascend helps school and district leaders develop aligned, high-performing school leadership teams that:
- Make school leadership more sustainable and reduce leader burnout
- Increase school stability through improved retention and internal leadership pipelines
- Accelerate school improvement through systems-level change and increased academic growth
Who Should Join Ascend?
Ascend includes executive (district/network leaders) level participants, school principals, and rising leaders (e.g., assistant principals, deans, instructional coaches, etc.).
Our typical Ascend partners include:
- a school with a more experienced school principal who is focused on increasing leadership development for their leadership team members
- districts/schools without an established internal growth system or limited opportunities for school leadership team members to develop their capacity as leader
- districts/schools looking to build an internal leadership pipeline
Pricing
- $15,850 per year (includes 3 leaders: the principal and 2 rising leaders)
- $850 for each additional rising leader or executive
Thanks to a generous group of donors, most Ascend schools will continue to have the cost of the program subsidized through the 2026-27 school year ($1,500-$5,000 depending on the size of the school team). Please reach out to Accelerate Institute for more information.
Scholarships
If you are a principal in one of these regions, click on your city below to see if you quality for one of our scholarship options:
All Ascend programming takes place in a virtual classroom; there are no additional travel costs.
How It Works
Ascend equips schools with the tools to proactively build leadership capacity across all levels to strengthen the entire school leadership team. An aligned and skilled leadership team makes stronger decisions, is more effective in training and developing teachers, and creates a school community where students, teachers, and leaders thrive.
Effective leadership development requires a multi-faceted, holistic approach, and Ascend delivers exactly that. Ascend partner schools receive expert coaching, targeted support customized to each school’s unique context, and proven content from Accelerate Institute’s 30+ years of expertise in continuous school improvement. Together, these elements help your team build a common leadership language and model that strengthens leadership skills, accelerates progress toward schoolwide goals, and creates the conditions for long-term success.
For More Comprehensive Support
Consider pairing with:
- The Leadership Institute: Principals who are new to Accelerate Institute can benefit from this 4-day leadership PD session, which includes strategic work time to build their School Strategic Plan and Leadership Development Plan using Accelerate Institute’s frameworks
- One (or both!) of our Strategic Planning Retreats in Chicago (December and May); bring your school leadership team to create clarity and alignment on goals, strategies, and action steps for the upcoming semester
Program Timeline and Commitment
Program Start: July
Program Duration: July 1 – June 30 (one full year)
Expected Commitment
- Executive participants, 1 hour/month
- Principals, 1-2 hours/month
- Rising Leaders, 1-2 hours/month
Schools and districts can renew Ascend support for multiple years, with deepening impact as systems become more embedded.
What's Included
For Executives (Superintendents, Executive Directors, Chief Academic Officers)
- Quarterly coaching meetings to ensure alignment with network/district priorities
- Network talent map
- Optional participation in forums (live, virtual workshops)
- Access to the Accelerate Online platform with an overview of school goals and leadership development progress across all Ascend schools in your district/network
- Leadership Assessment
- 24/7 access to Accelerate Online’s resource library and 40+ online leadership courses
For Principals
- One-to-one coaching sessions
- School talent map
- Customized Leadership Development Plan
- Forums (live, virtual workshops) for cohort learning and peer collaboration
- Access to the Accelerate Online platform with a customized School Performance Dashboard that highlights each team member’s progress towards their leadership development goals and alignment with your school goals
- School Playbook: Includes important protocols and systems needed to ensure the school runs effectively, including culture, operations, and curriculum
- Leadership Assessment
- 24/7 access to Accelerate Online’s resource library and 40+ online leadership courses
For Rising Leaders (Assistant Principals, Deans, Instructional Coaches, etc.)
- Forums: live, virtual workshops focused on leadership development
- Coaching sessions: one at the start of the year and one mid-year
- Customized Leadership Development Plan
- Access to the Accelerate Online platform with your Leadership Development Plan which includes your leadership goals, key results, and progress tracking towards those goals
- Leadership Assessment
- 24/7 access to Accelerate Online’s resource library and 40+ online leadership courses
More to Consider
Check out our other solutions or, for more comprehensive support, look at our most popular pairings.
Ready to get started? Still have questions?
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