Sixteen school districts will join the Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools for the 2026-27 school year, bringing new perspectives, experiences, and ideas to a national community of education leaders committed to advancing better learning opportunities for all students.
Together, these districts add to the League’s growing community of school systems working to move beyond isolated innovations and toward the conditions, practices, and partnerships that make meaningful change possible.
Please join us in welcoming the newest members of the League of Innovative Schools!
The League selected this year’s new members based on their educational leadership, demonstrated commitment to equity and excellence, innovative vision for learning, key achievements, and collaborative spirit. While each district is approaching innovation in its own way, the cohort shares a commitment to asking what is possible for students—and what it takes to make that possibility a reality across an entire system.
“The diversity of approaches we see across our League member school systems is one of the network’s greatest strengths,” shared Jillian Doggett, director of network supports at Digital Promise. “Members join the League to learn from what other systems are trying, ask better questions of their own work, share what they are learning, and build relationships with peers navigating many of the same challenges.”
Through their membership in the League, superintendents and leaders from their districts have opportunities to learn directly from peers, step inside real school and district systems, and collaborate around the complex challenges of transforming teaching and learning. Throughout the year, members engage in peer-to-peer learning, in-person events, and opportunities to co-create and pilot research-based approaches with Digital Promise researchers and fellow school systems.
We asked the new cohort’s superintendents to share how their districts are approaching innovation. Their responses reveal a wide range of priorities and strategies, as well as several common themes: putting students and communities at the center of decision-making, creating more personalized and authentic learning experiences, preparing students for an evolving world of work and technology, and building the conditions that allow educators and students to thrive.
Across the cohort, innovation is closely connected to voice, partnership, and belonging.
“Our innovation agenda for equity must be community owned and focus on empowering every staff member in our district to lead, regardless of role or position. Our ‘partnership first’ culture has resulted in commitments across higher education, workforce and economic development, business and industry, government, state network partners, and community based organizations.”
Robert Britton, Bucyrus City Schools (Ohio)
“We are reimagining learning environments to prioritize student voice, inquiry, and real-world application, ensuring that learning is both meaningful and personalized. Through flexible structures and instructional practices, students engage in experiences that reflect their interests, strengths, and needs, while being held to high expectations aligned with our graduate profile.”
Marisa Janicek, Del Mar Union School District (California)
“Community engagement is embedded directly into our district’s strategic plan because we believe innovation must be co-created with the community. Over the past several years, we have intentionally expanded opportunities for authentic involvement, ensuring that families, staff, community members, and students have meaningful ways to help shape our work. Equally important, we engage students through structured focus groups and surveys to inform program development and instructional decisions. Ultimately, our work is about empowering learners to shape the world with knowledge, purpose, and passion.”
Edward Aldarelli, Edison Township School District (New Jersey)
For many of the new members, innovation is not about adding another program or adopting the newest technology. It is about strengthening the systems and practices that make high-quality learning possible for every student.
“Innovation in our district is human-centered. Technology, including artificial intelligence, serves as a tool to enhance teaching and learning, not replace the relationships at the core of education. Our educators are supported through ongoing professional learning, collaborative structures, and access to real-time data, allowing them to make informed instructional decisions that directly impact student outcomes.”
Jared Bloom, Franklin Square UFSD (New York)
“Innovation at Fremont is defined by a commitment to proactive adaptation, most notably in our STEM and Career Technical Education (CTE) integration and Artificial Intelligence (AI) leadership. For example, in our middle school CTE/STEM pathway program, we have transitioned to a more integrated, elective approach. A creative redesign of the related studies programming has diversified student access to fine arts, STEM, entrepreneurship, and CTE.”
Trisha Kocanda, Fremont School District 79 (Illinois)
“Glen Cove’s vision for innovation is grounded in the belief that every student, regardless of language, ability, or background, deserves access to rigorous, data-driven instruction that prepares them for a future we cannot fully predict. Innovation in our district is not about adopting the newest tool or trend. It is about aligning our practices to what the evidence shows works, and then ensuring those practices reach every classroom and every learner.”
Dr. Alexa Doeschner, Glen Cove City School District (New York)
“Through our commitments [to authentic learning, personalized support, and the strategic use of data and technology], teachers are collaborating more intentionally across grade levels and buildings, students are gaining more voice through advisory structures and surveys, and the district has expanded innovative opportunities such as college partnerships, career-connected learning, and exploration of student portfolios.”
Brian Graham, Grand Island Central School District (New York)
Other districts are rethinking what learning can look like when students have greater choice, stronger connections to their interests, and clearer pathways to their futures.
“Our ongoing development of a career pathway model will continue to provide students with greater opportunities to move beyond a one-size-fits-all high school experience toward more personalized, student-centered learning. Our goal is to create pathways aligned with students’ individual interests, strengths, and future goals while expanding opportunities for project-based and interdisciplinary learning experiences.”
Mark Holtzman, Hempfield Area School District (Pennsylvania)
“Our district’s vision is simply, ‘Educational Excellence: The Right of Every Student,’ [which] we live [in] both in voice and action. Therefore, as we consider how this impacts our district’s approach to innovation, we are fully committed to providing high-quality instruction, equitable access to resources and programming, as well as meaningful opportunities for all students, regardless of where they live within our district.”
Marcey Sorensen, La Joya Independent School District (Texas)
“Equity is embedded in both our design and our implementation. We use multiple measures to inform instructional decisions, create clear and flexible pathways for students, and invest in professional learning that equips educators to meet diverse learner needs. We also engage students, families, and staff as partners in the design process, ensuring that our systems reflect the experiences and aspirations of our community.”
Erik Burmeister, Las Lomitas Elementary School District (California)
“Our vision for innovation is rooted in the belief that the modern classroom must be a laboratory for global citizenship. We do not view innovation as a departure from our foundations, but as the essential vehicle to help students think clearly, critically, and creatively in an increasingly complex world.”
Xanthy Karamanos, Leonia Public Schools (New Jersey)
Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies are also shaping how several new League members think about the future—not simply as technologies to adopt, but as opportunities to engage students, educators, and communities in thoughtful experimentation and learning.
“Rather than implementing a defensive ban on artificial intelligence, [we] proactively established a student-led AI club at Montpelier High School and hosted a landmark student-led AI symposium. This symposium, combined with an interactive public bulletin board, was designed to capture community sentiment and drive the conversation around generative tech.”
Libby Bonesteel, Montpelier Roxbury Public Schools (Vermont)
“A public school district can be both rigorous and supportive, both data-driven and student-centered, and the work of getting there has to start with the conditions that make good teaching and learning possible. We organize our strategic work around…a clear instructional vision, a strong sense of belonging for every student, and an authentic partnership with our five communities.”
John Muldoon, Mount Mansfield Unified Union School District (Vermont)
“Technology is strategically integrated to meet diverse student needs. Digital platforms and adaptive programs are routinely used to enhance instruction for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners and students receiving special education services, enabling differentiated instruction, accessibility tools, and personalized learning pathways. [We have also] invested in creative technologies that empower students to design, produce, and share video and multimedia content, fostering authentic learning, communication skills, and student voice.”
Erskine R. Glover, Piscataway Township Schools (New Jersey)
“Our Future Ready Plan is a promise that every student in Pittsburgh will have access to a personalized, joy centered journey from kindergarten through career, regardless of their address or zip code. Innovation is not a buzzword for us; it is the courage to redesign what is possible, remove barriers, and create opportunities worthy of the brilliance and potential of every student. Our work is not simply to prepare students for the future, but to empower them to shape it.”
Wayne N. Walters, Pittsburgh Public Schools (Pennsylvania)
“Pleasant View’s vision for innovation is to redesign education through a coherent, system-wide model that integrates pedagogy, change management, and social impact. Rather than layering isolated initiatives, the district has restructured the entire learning environment so that innovation is embedded in daily practice and experienced by every student. Pleasant View operates as a dynamic system—the school you see today will look different in three months—because it continuously adapts to student needs.”
Mark Odsather, Pleasant View Elementary School District (California)
From Nov. 3-5, representatives from these 16 districts will join fellow League members in Tempe, Arizona, for the League’s biannual convening hosted by Arizona State University Preparatory Academy (ASU Prep). Through site visits across ASU Prep’s diverse learning environments, peer conversations, and collaborative sessions, members will explore what new ideas might look like in their own contexts, what conditions would make them possible, and what they can learn from one another as we try.
Launched in 2011, the League of Innovative Schools is a national network of school systems committed to learning with and from one another as they tackle some of education’s most complex challenges.
“The League is a place where district leaders can test ideas, share lessons from practice, surface challenges honestly, and build relationships that support long-term systems change,” shared Doggett.
As the League enters its 15th year, this new cohort reflects on what has made the community enduring: there is enormous value in having peers who ask hard questions, share what they are learning, and imagine what could be possible together.
The League is commemorating this milestone by sharing stories of innovative leadership from across the network. Join the celebration and share your story of impact.
