Building off of the success and learnings from our Family Financial Assistance Program, which impacted more than 32,000 families between March 2020 and August 2022, Outschool.org is developing a new program called Outbridge. Outbridge aims to educate, empower, and support racially and economically marginalized families navigating the fractured non-traditional learning ecosystem by providing access to curated community-based and national resources. 

Families access Outbridge through institutions such as community-based organizations, schools, and homeschooling co-ops. Outschool.org works with these local, trusted institutions to develop resources to help families better navigate their choices and connect with one another. Outbridge provides easy access to curated high-quality content. Offerings include the Outschool.com marketplace as well as in-person and virtual educational opportunities from community and national learning providers.

For our pilot, we launched Outbridge with 193 Black homeschooling learners through a partnership with Engaged Detroit.

In February 2023, Outschool.org brought the Outbridge model to learners enrolled in traditional and charter public schools by partnering with the non-profit organization, Amplify GR, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Outschool.org began by supporting 40 learners at a neighborhood charter school serving predominantly Black students, then expanded the program support 400 learners in the fall of 2023.  

Outschool.org has now partnered with the Virginia Department of Education to leverage Outbridge in supporting 10,000 low-income Virginia families to optimize their $3,000 Learning Acceleration Grants for tutoring, assistive technologies, and specialized education therapy services and supports.

In 2024, we will continue developing new features for Outbridge that provide personalized information and strengthen community networks, so that more families can identify and select in-person and virtual learning opportunities for their children.