Staying rested is one of the most important things we can do to be successful at work and in life more generally. But how often do we think to talk about it? Or even celebrate it?

At Higher Ground, we prioritize rest and well-being in our organizational culture. See what that means in practice:

Have you taken a moment to say thank you (or high five) a Restart SMART Site Director lately?

Our Site Directors are instrumental in the implementation of the Community School strategy across our 8 partnering school sites. These are the individuals supporting relationships between school staff (teachers, principals, administrators) and education partners.

Can you believe that we’re more than a month into the new school year? 

There’s still so much to be excited about: new friendships, familiar faces, and another year of self-discovery and personal growth. 

Heading into the Fall season, you’re probably in the swing of your new routine. With this transition, we encourage you to remember a few words of wisdom: this year is your chance to create the positive changes that we all want to see in our shared community.

You don’t need to have everything figured out. You don’t need to strive for perfection. You don’t need to be the loudest voice in the room. You already inspire the people around you— your friends, family, teachers, and even complete strangers—every day. Just keep being you.

In a nutshell, we are a nonprofit focused on improving Arizona’s K-12 education system to improve outcomes for youth and families. Our home base is Tuscon–It’s the community that our team calls home. Additionally, we offer services at one location in Chandler.

An architect by training, Stephanie is Higher Ground’s resident systems builder.

She examines the interconnectedness between Tucson’s various communities — schools, businesses, nonprofits, community alliances, and local governments — and how we can come together to build a more resilient social fabric that uplifts all of us.

Here’s how she’s thinking about it all.

Communities, and Community Schools in particular, are built on a foundation of meaningful human relationships. At Higher Ground, one of our goals is to facilitate conversations that improve community relationships and collaboration.

In this Q&A, we share a discussion with Fred Ronstadt. If you’re a parent at Safford PreK-8, be sure to say hello, ask questions, and ask him how his day is going.

“I believe Higher Ground has the potential to create waves—not just locally, but on a much broader scale. We can empower individuals to improve their circumstances, changing the world one community at a time. Loving what I do and showing that love through my work is the best part of this job.”

While many are moving on from the pandemic, we at Higher Ground believe that it’s important to embrace what we learned from the experience. In this blog post, we share some of our reflections, along with early impact metrics that we’re measuring at Higher Ground.

The best way to become familiar with the school letter grades assessment process is to educate yourself. In this article, we share some basic information and tips for staying engaged in the school letter grades process.