Community Catalyst Partners Set to Acquire the International Studies Schools Network

Organization Now Fully Equipped to Develop Talents of Educators and Young People in Communities Across the US and Internationally

HARTFORD, Conn., June 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Community Catalyst Partners (CCP) has entered into an agreement to purchase the International Studies Schools Network (ISSN)—a network of high-performing, globally oriented schools serving largely lower income, urban students established by the Asia Society Center for Global Education—to bolster the support CCP provides to its partner communities. By integrating the ISSN’s global competence approach into teaching and learning opportunities for educators, CCP is fully equipped to develop the talents of young people from pre-kindergarten through the completion of a postsecondary credential of market value in the global economy.

According to CCP President and CEO Gene Chasin, the new acquisition creates opportunities for CCP to bring community stakeholders together and assist that coalition in achieving the goals of spurring economic growth and making a postsecondary education attainable and affordable for its students. “Key to our work is building organizational, educational and ultimately student-level capacity,” says Chasin. “As we work with communities to assess, align and marshal resources to provide an entire range of services and supports that lead to achievement for students, we also need to incorporate a range of capacity-building resources for educators. That’s where we see the services developed by the ISSN as a perfect fit as we work hand-in-hand to create an environment of success for students and educators alike.”

The ISSN, a program of the Asia Society Center for Global Education, has partnered with K-12 schools across the United States and globally since 2003 to provide professional development to teachers and leaders, and to support learning that prepares all students for college, career, and the world.

“Today when schools and teachers are asked to do so much, and when achieving equitable outcomes for all youth is ever more imperative, ISSN is not a new curriculum or another program to implement on top of what educators are already juggling,” says Tony Jackson, Asia Society Vice President of Education and Director of its Center for Global Education. “ISSN provides the framework for integrating best practices to meet the goals that schools themselves have set, and the support for strengthening the learning environment to truly meet the needs of students of today and tomorrow. We’re excited for the ISSN to join forces with Community Catalyst Partners, whose community-based work in the field will help extend the ISSN’s reach to even more teachers and students in communities across the United States and around the world.”

According to Chasin, many CCP clients can find funding for their participation in the academic and non-academic support offered by the organization, including the ISSN, by accessing the nearly $195 billion in American Rescue Plan and COVID-19 relief funds made available by the federal government in 2020 and 2021. Among its primary services, CCP works to equip whole cities with the data and critical thinking needed to be able to accomplish education goals, helps to repurpose existing public funds and raise additional money from the private sector, and determines which academic and non-academic supports are needed and effective in driving college readiness and matriculation in a respective community.

For its part, ISSN works with school leaders and teachers to strengthen the school’s vision and culture, develop and inform best practices for educators, and build students’ global competence. Currently, the ISSN includes 31 school and district partners in 10 states, and schools in Brazil and Jordan. The most recent survey of the ISSN found two-thirds of ISSN students are from low-income families, nearly three quarters are students of color, and more than 20 percent are English Language Learners. Results indicate that students in ISSN schools performed as well as or better than comparison schools in 98 of 154 (64%) state-level achievement measures examined.

Throughout the process, Schoolhouse Partners served as advisor to Asia Society and the ISSN on the transaction. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The ISSN is set to officially join CCP on July 1, 2021, after which core members of its leadership team will join CCP. The ISSN will continue to operate as a fee-for-service model through which districts, schools and communities can contract for a suite of professional services and resources.

About Community Catalyst Partners
Community Catalyst Partners (CCP) is a fee-for-service 501c3 nonprofit formed in 2020. With deep roots in establishing programs that address equity and ignite sustainable outcomes for all students in communities across the nation, CCP exists to develop the talents of young people from pre-kindergarten through the completion of a postsecondary credential of market value. With the acquisition of the International Studies Schools Network (ISSN) in 2021, CCP is positioned to provided academic and non-academic supports and capacity building services and resources to help communities and schools build an environment of success for students and teachers alike. To learn more, visit www.communitycatalystpartners.org.

About the International Studies Schools Network
The Asia Society Center for Global Education partners with leaders and institutions from the United States, Asia, and around the world to tackle one of the most critical education challenges today: how to educate all students for employability and citizenship in a global era. The International Studies Schools Network (ISSN), a program of the Asia Society Center for Global Education, has partnered with K-12 schools across the United States and globally since 2003 to provide professional development to teachers and leaders, and to support learning that prepares all students for college, career, and the world. Since its inception, the ISSN has built a broad network of high-performing, globally oriented schools that demonstrate what a rigorous global education can do for a largely low-income, urban student population. Asia Society and the ISSN schools have designed a robust approach to project-based learning and performance-based assessment that has implications well beyond the network, offering lessons for policymakers and practitioners concerned about preparing students to live and work in an increasingly complex world. To learn more, visit www.asiasociety.org/education

Contact: Donnie Turlington
Phone: 336-991-7711
Email: dturlington@communitycatalystpartners.org