Distinctive Schools is built on the backgrounds of expert practitioners Mary Stafford and Joseph Wise, who bring strong leadership and results from prior experience with students, educators and school leaders. Their expertise, reinforced by the legal, operational, instructional, and curricular expertise of nationally respected members of their Board of Directors and Academic Advisory Board, enables Distinctive Schools to achieve stellar results among all students and educators.
Dr. Joseph Wise is Co-Founder and Chief Education Officer of Distinctive Schools. Dr. Wise’s research surrounding teaching quality, Power of Teaching, serves as a foundational strategy. This work (now a part of NWEA), coupled with a strong belief in value-added assessment and data-driven instruction, shapes the support teachers and schools receive as a Distinctive Schools partner.
Mary Stafford is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Distinctive Schools. Her career experience has spanned higher education, traditional K-12 public education, and charter schools. Ms. Stafford has started over a dozen charter schools in as many years. All remain popular choices for families and are relatively high performing.
While the crisis in education today is undeniable, we are optimistic about solutions. Distinctive Schools welcomes the opportunity to partner with existing networks and schools to drive performance through evidence-based approaches and careful attention to successful implementation.
While a number of high-performing networks have emerged, what is missing from the school reform landscape is an organization devoted to moving existing charter schools, in the words of author Jim Collins, from “Good to Great.” Many charter schools that have operated in the Midwest for a decade or so are producing good results for most students. The goal of Distinctive Schools is to operate and support these schools, from their unique position, to produce great results for all students.
Stafford and Wise are committed to devoting time and resources to this critical mission. They are developing a network of partners to operate and support these schools in reaching new levels of excellence – including those known to be among the “best and brightest” among educators and top-notch research-based organizations.
Distinctive Schools commits to its partners, affiliated educators and to children and educators one promise: the provision of charter schools that accelerate achievement, performance, and college-preparedness.
