The charter network that treats a college diploma - not an acceptance letter - as the finish line.
Uncommon Schools begins each day with an unfashionably plain proposition: that a child's zip code should not decide whether they finish college. It is a nonprofit charter management organization - a "network of networks" - that starts and runs tuition-free public charter schools in low-income urban communities. Roughly 53 K-12 schools now serve about 20,000 students across New York City, Newark and Camden in New Jersey, Rochester and Troy in New York, and Boston.
The story starts small. In 1997, Norman Atkins and Jamey Verrilli opened North Star Academy in Newark. The results were strong enough that, by 2005, Atkins persuaded a group of high-performing charter leaders to unite their schools into a single organization with a shared method and a shared name.
What holds the network together is not a logo but a system: data-driven instruction, relentless teacher coaching, and a refusal to let students disappear after graduation. Uncommon publishes its results plainly - 96% of its high school graduates have earned college acceptance since 1997, and its alumni graduate from college at roughly four times the rate of their lowest-income peers nationally.
It is also, quietly, one of the most influential teacher-training operations in the country. Managing Director Doug Lemov built his best-selling "Teach Like a Champion" by videotaping the network's most effective teachers and naming, precisely, what they did. That work now trains educators far beyond Uncommon's own walls.
Uncommon's customers are families in cities where the odds of finishing college have long tracked income. Its schools are public, free, and open by lottery. The problem it takes on is not access to a classroom - it is the gap between starting high school and holding a degree years later.
That gap is where most college-access programs lose the thread. Uncommon's answer is to treat the acceptance letter as a midpoint. Every high school in the network staffs an alumni counselor, and Alumni Success Coaches follow graduates onto campuses in multiple states, using data - GPAs, enrollment status, financial-aid snags - to intervene early rather than late.
The second set of customers is teachers. Through "Teach Like a Champion," workshops, books, and leadership fellowships, Uncommon trains educators across the United States and abroad. Co-CEO Julie Jackson - who started as a classroom teacher - has trained more than 30,000 teachers and leaders over her career.
Bars are illustrative of figures Uncommon reports publicly; "grad rate vs peers" shown at full width to represent the ~4x multiple.
"The best professional development occurs when teachers learn from teachers."
Roughly 53 tuition-free, college-preparatory public schools serving about 20,000 students across six cities.
Doug Lemov's best-selling book series and teacher-training program, now in its 3.0 edition, cataloging concrete classroom techniques.
Counselors and coaches who track graduates through college, using data to deliver early, targeted support toward a degree.
Workshops, books, and leadership fellowships that train teachers and school leaders in data-driven instruction worldwide.
An enrichment summer camp designed for under-resourced students inside the network.
Grew out of "Teacher U" (2009), co-founded with KIPP and Achievement First, later becoming Relay Graduate School of Education.
Uncommon is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Its schools are public and charge no tuition, funded mainly by per-pupil public education dollars, supplemented by philanthropic grants and donations. Early backers included the NewSchools Venture Fund, which granted $1.7 million to help the network expand, and in 2013 Uncommon won the Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools and its $250,000 award for college-readiness work. An additional earned-revenue stream flows from the "Teach Like a Champion" publishing and professional-development arm.
In the market, Uncommon sits among the largest and most-scrutinized charter management organizations in the country - a peer set that includes KIPP, Success Academy, and Achievement First, alongside traditional urban school districts. Its distinguishing bet is less about any single technique and more about the whole loop: standardize the method, decentralize the day-to-day to strong local leaders, and measure success by who finishes college - not who enrolls.
Norman Atkins and Jamey Verrilli launch the Newark school that seeds Uncommon Schools.
High-performing charter leaders unite their schools into one organization with a shared model.
Co-created with KIPP and Achievement First at Hunter College; later becomes Relay GSE.
Doug Lemov codifies concrete teaching techniques; North Star named a National Blue Ribbon School.
The founding NYC managing director takes the helm of the growing network.
Uncommon earns the Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools and $250,000 for college-readiness efforts.
A veteran teacher and principal rises to lead the schools, later becoming Co-CEO.
The network reports strong college outcomes and expanded alumni support.
Rose from teacher, dean, and founding principal to President and then Co-CEO. Has trained 30,000+ educators; honored with Teach For America's Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership.
Former history teacher and founder of Boston Collegiate Charter School; built Uncommon's NYC schools before becoming CEO in 2012.
Author of "Teach Like a Champion," the methodology that turned classroom instinct into a teachable system used worldwide.
Norman Atkins and Jamey Verrilli started North Star Academy in 1997 - the classroom that became the network.
Links open YouTube search results for verified public content.
Yes. Uncommon runs public charter schools that are tuition-free and open to students by lottery in the communities they serve.
Across six cities: New York City, Newark and Camden (NJ), Rochester and Troy (NY), and Boston (MA), with roughly 53 schools serving about 20,000 students.
A best-selling book series and teacher-training program created by Uncommon's Doug Lemov, cataloging practical classroom techniques used by highly effective teachers.
Uncommon is led by Co-CEOs Julie Jackson and Brett Peiser; it was co-founded by Norman Atkins and Jamey Verrilli.
Since 1997, 96% of its high school graduates have earned college acceptance, and alumni graduate from college at roughly four times the rate of their lowest-income peers nationally.
Sources: Uncommon Schools (about, results, people, news); Harvard PELP case study "A Network of Networks"; The 74; Education Trust-New York; ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer; Wikipedia. Figures are self-reported by Uncommon Schools or drawn from public filings and may be approximate. Profile compiled from public sources; last reviewed July 2026.