Higher Ground Education

Founded by Ray Girn in 2016, Higher Ground Education is a school management platform operating a network of schools focused on modernizing and mainstreaming Montessori education to achieve its “Montessori Everywhere” mission. It operates multiple education brands, including the Guidepost Montessori school network of early childhood centers and elementary schools and the Academy of Thought and Industry, a network of middle and high schools. As of April 2021, these networks comprised 80 schools across the US and China with about 7,000 students. About two-thirds of these schools served infants through preschoolers, while the rest catered to K-12 students. The company also operates the Prepared Montessorian Teacher Training Institute. The institute’s accreditation course is offered for free to all teachers in its school network and for a fee to those outside its network. Additionally, the company offers a learning management system (LMS) acquired from Altitude Learning in January 2021.

Higher Ground’s financing has been accompanied by acquisitions. In March 2020, the company acquired CozyKin, a nanny-sharing platform that matches local families with Montessori-trained nannies, which was rebranded as Guidepost at Home. In January 2021, the company acquired a learning management system (LMS) developed by Altitude Learning, an educational software developer and micro-school network acquired by Higher Ground in June 2019. Altitude Learning’s LMS allows teachers to organize lesson plans, create and share playlists of content and educational activities, and assess and evaluate students. In April 2021, the company acquired Canada-based FreshGrade, a provider of a digital portfolio and assessment platform that gives parents and teachers a transparent view of student progress. The acquisition allows Higher Ground to access FreshGrade’s user base, which comprises 85,000 teachers, 1.3 million students, and 1.8 million parents. Higher Ground plans to develop FreshGrade’s technology further to include new features. More recently, in November 2022, the firm acquired NeighborSchools, a micro-childcare facility developer, to broaden Higher Ground Education's reach into in-home offerings and increase its access to pedagogically superior early childhood programs. Additionally, a new "Hub & Spoke" concept was introduced as a result of the NeighborSchools acquisition.

Funding and financials

In March 2020, it was reported that the company raised USD 21.4 million in new equity investment to aid its expansion and accelerate new product development. In January 2021, Higher Ground raised USD 40 million in a Series C round to fund the opening of 40 new schools across the US and, in April 2021, the company raised USD 30 million in Series D funding for continued curriculum development, training, technology, and international growth.