Engage New England Initiative

About the Initiative

In 2016, Barr launched Engage New England to “do high school differently.” Barr invested over $30 million in this new approach because of a gap in the field: too many students, including those who were most marginalized and least well-served by traditional systems, were not being adequately supported.

Barr partnered with Springpoint and SRI to venture into a new area that other funders were not yet investing in and that districts were not yet designed to address. This was a deliberate and values-driven decision to embrace risk, take a long-term view, and invest in reimagining high school through a lens of equity, grounded in research, practitioner experience, and state-level priorities.

At its core, this work is rooted in the belief that students are and have always been capable. Unfortunately, most high schools were not designed to provide meaningful relationships with educators and rigorous, relevant learning that students need to thrive. As a result, young people can experience isolation and disengagement that narrows their sense of what’s possible in school and, beyond school, in life.

Every young person deserves a school that recognizes their strengths, cultivates their potential, and prepares them for what comes next.

When schools are built with young people and around their strengths and needs, students are more engaged, challenged, and prepared for their future. Creating those experiences requires a long-term commitment, continuous learning, and a willingness to adapt to intentionally create schools where every student can succeed.

For a decade, our partner schools committed to reimagining the high school experience and testing the possibilities. Together, we have learned there is not a one-size-fits all model, but rather whole high school transformation is possible by adopting four fully adaptable key pillars.

The Engage New England initiative enabled eighteen districts to reimagine high school. Five were able to go deeper to embed four pillars into their models. Ultimately, these schools in partnership with a technical assistant partner refined a student-centered approach to the high school experience that leads, not only to graduation, but to a clear vision of success for life beyond graduation.

2025 Student Survey Technical Report

This 2025 study examined the planning, implementation, and sustainability of these model high schools, provides formative feedback to the foundation, the technical assistance provider, and the schools to support continuous improvement.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Students at ENE schools were more likely than students at traditional schools to report that their advisor (assigned adult) knew them well and believed they could succeed (Exhibit 4). 
• On average, students at ENE schools reported that a higher proportion of their classes were rigorous and were purposeful compared with students at comparison schools (Exhibit 6). They also reported a supportive classroom environment in a higher proportion of their courses than did comparison students at traditional high schools.
• Students at ENE schools were more likely than students at traditional and alternative schools to report that they had created a postsecondary plan and that someone at their school had helped them develop this plan (Exhibit 8).
• Students at ENE schools more strongly agreed that their school had provided them with postsecondary guidance than students at traditional and alternative schools, but their higher sense of efficacy related to these plans was not statistically significant (Exhibit 9).