About Us
What is GEO Academies?
GEO Academies is a non-profit organization with the mission of breaking the cycle of poverty by providing students and families with access to quality educational options in impoverished neighborhoods. One way GEO Academies does this is by starting, supporting, and managing high-quality charter schools in different areas of the country.
GEO Academies, as featured in Forbes Magazine, has been making access to quality schools a reality for children since 1998. GEO incubates quality charter schools and then supports their growth. All four GEO-sponsored public charter schools are high academic growth schools and feature a unique K-14 model–full day kindergarten all the way through two years of college.
GEO Academies provide longer school days and a longer school year to ensure student success. GEO Academies partner with Teach For America, New Teacher Project, and College Summit, too. GEO students graduate from high school with an average of 20 college credits–and this number is growing–earn thousands in academic scholarships and go to college.
At the GEO Academies, we believe all children should have access to a quality education that includes college.
We embrace all quality educational options that enable parents to help their children learn and schools to succeed. Through aggressive community outreach and the introduction of options that empower families, GEO strives to make educational choice a reality for all families.
At GEO, we take great care to ensure that the information we provide is factual, informative and helpful. We hope you will make use of the information on this site, and use GEO as a resource when you share information about education reform with your community.
Who are the GEO Academies?
GEO Academies currently manages six charter schools in two states and we support both a K-12 “early college” model and a high school dropout recovery model. Our K-12 academies center on providing a classical education provided through Core Knowledge and Engage New York with a goal for our freshmen to start taking college courses and graduate from high school within four years with a two-year college Associate Degree. Our teachers use the highly effective National Institute for Excellence in Teaching program known as TAP (System for Teacher and Student Advancement). And our schools use technology to provide a blended learning experience. Our dropout recovery academy focuses on helping students earn their high school diploma AND prepare for a successful career or to enter college. Each GEO Academy’s goal is to give every student, regardless of race and socioeconomic background, a fair opportunity to pursue higher education and improve their life circumstances.
Our Schools:
- 21st Century Charter School at Gary (K-12): Authorized by Ball State University (started in 2005)
- Gary Middle College-East (9-12): Authorized by Ball State University (started in 2012)
- Gary Middle College-West (9-12): Authorized by Ball State University (started in 2018)
- GEO Prep Academy of Greater Baton Rouge (K-3): Authorized by the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (started in 2015)
- GEO Prep Mid-City of Greater Baton Rouge (K-8)
- GEO Next Generation High School (9th Grade)
GEO Academies Are Successful Charter Schools:
Stanford University has published reports showing GEO Academies to be in the top 25% of the country in terms of academic growth.
GEO Academies Manages and Supports Successful Charter Schools:
Each GEO Academy starts by invitation of local community leaders. GEO Academies works with the founding board of directors to develop the charter application, then provides guidance and support in hiring and training the school leader and staff. GEO also assists in finding a facility, funding furniture and supplies, marketing, technology and providing the professional development to staff to ensure a successful school opening. After opening, GEO provides back office support—accounting, human resources, academic oversight—to assist the school in achieving economies of scale, keep administration costs down, and to get as many education dollars in the classroom as possible.