The Challenge

Greater Philadelphia and New Jersey hold some of the most capable education institutions in the country — and some of the widest gaps in who they reach. The region's schools, out-of-school-time providers, early childhood programs, and community organizations are contending with the same set of pressures at once: uneven attendance and engagement, students whose learning was interrupted and never fully recovered, mental health needs that arrive at the classroom door before any lesson begins, and families navigating economic instability that no single institution can resolve on its own.