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Back To School

Private equity-backed companies are helping to make schools safer and more accessible for students, parents, and teachers this year.

In communities across the country, businesses owned by private equity firms are providing free access to online learning platforms, making digital textbooks and virtual classroom software available to students and teachers, and working with individual school districts to develop health evaluation, testing, and reopening plans.

A few examples:

  • Accelerate Learning (ALI) is providing free training and digital resources to help teachers learn effective distance learning practices. Additional free resources are being embedded into the Science and Math products to support distance learning. ALI serves more than 5.5m students in over 3,000 districts in 50 states. ALI is a portfolio company of The Carlyle Group and is based in Houston, TX.
  • Instructure is offering a new resource center for school administrators, video tutorials for teachers and parents, and free teacher accounts of its learning management system, Canvas, allowing any educator to create a course and teach online for free with a variety of tools such as announcements, assignments, and discussions. Instructure is a portfolio company of Thoma Bravo and is based in Salt Lake City, UT.
  • EVERFI is making free educational resources, including math and literacy programs, available to students learning from home. EVERFI is a portfolio company of TPG and is based in Washington, D.C.
  • Weld North Education is offering free content and resources through its PreK-12 digital curriculum and courseware companies, Imagine Learning and Edgenuity, during school closures, including complimentary webinars, professional learning, self-serve support, and resources in various languages for educators and parents. Weld North Education is a portfolio company of Silver Lake and is based in Scottsdale, AZ.
  • N2Y is granting complimentary access to online learning materials and remote learning plans for students, teachers, and caregivers to facilitate the transition to online learning. N2Y is a portfolio company of Providence Equity and is based in Huron, OH.
  • SERVPRO is offering a viral pathogen cleaning program that follows CDC guidelines and employs hospital-grade disinfectants to stop the spread of COVID-19 in schools. ServPro is a portfolio company of Blackstone and is based in Gallatin, TN.
  • Frontline Education is hosting a webinar series featuring practitioners and thought leaders to support state, district, and school leaders with actionable insights as they plan for back-to-school and the ongoing challenges related to the pandemic. Frontline Education is a portfolio company of Thoma Bravo and is based in Malvern, PA.
  • GoHealth Urgent Care is hosting webinars for school officials on COVID-19 best practices and partnering with individual school superintendents to develop testing, health monitoring, and risk mitigation protocols. GoHealth is a portfolio company of TPG and is based in Atlanta, GA.
  • School Check IN is providing reopened schools with a software program to screen and document visitors, checking them against databases such as the national sex offender registry. School Check IN is a portfolio company of The Riverside Company and is based in Tampa, FL.
  • Modern States, a non-profit with over 200,000 registered learners, is helping students save a full year or more of college costs. They have partnered with the states of Michigan and New York, Purdue University, high schools in New York City and New Orleans, and others. Modern States was founded by AIC Chairman and New Mountain Capital CEO Steve Klinsky. This philanthropic venture is headquartered in New York, NY.

“Whether your children are learning from home or back in the classroom this fall, private equity-backed companies are helping them have a safer and more accessible educational experience this fall. Back to school will look different this year, but we’re all in this together.”

– Drew Maloney, President and CEO of The American Investment Council