A support-heavy, innovation-driven approach to engagement, credit recovery, and “Next Big Step” outcomes.
Across the United States and in many education systems globally, schools are confronting the same urgent reality: too many students are falling behind, disengaging, and leaving school without a diploma or a clear plan for life after graduation. In underserved communities, the stakes are even higher. Students are often balancing responsibilities and barriers that traditional school models were never designed to support, work schedules, family care, transportation instability, housing transitions, anxiety, and academic gaps that compound year after year.
ThrivePoint Academy was created to meet this challenge with a different philosophy and a different operating system.
Rather than asking students to fit into a system built for stability, ThrivePoint is built around the realities of at-promise learners. It is a flexible pathway academy designed to increase engagement, accelerate credits earned, and improve long-term outcomes through a Human + AI support model that is measurable, scalable, and community-centred.
ThrivePoint is not a “program.” It is a school model designed to produce results, and to prove those results with data that authorizers, districts, families, and community partners can trust.
Network Growth Demonstrating Community Need
Learning Matters Educational Group and the ThrivePoint Academy network have experienced significant recent growth across multiple states, demonstrating both demand and community need for a flexible pathway model built for underserved student populations. ThrivePoint Arizona currently serves approximately 1,500 students, ThrivePoint California serves 1,000 students, and ThrivePoint Nevada has grown to 500 students in its second year. ThrivePoint Utah launched in year one with 200 students, and the network is preparing to expand further with Oklahoma and Texas launching for fall 2026. This multi-state growth reflects a consistent pattern: when schools combine personalised learning, success coaching, and scalable support systems, students who were previously disengaged re-enter education with renewed momentum and clearer postsecondary direction.
The ThrivePoint Mission: Graduation as a Launchpad, Not a Finish Line
ThrivePoint’s mission is simple and measurable: help at-promise students re-engage, earn credits consistently, graduate on a realistic timeline, and transition into a meaningful Next Big Step.
For ThrivePoint students, graduation is not treated as the end goal. It is treated as a launchpad into a career pathway, a credential, a training program, college, or stable employment with upward mobility.
That future focus is central to ThrivePoint’s identity. Many students disengage not because they cannot do the work, but because school feels irrelevant, overwhelming, or emotionally unsafe. ThrivePoint rebuilds the experience of school around three principles: momentum, belonging, and purpose. This approach aligns with research demonstrating that well-implemented social-emotional learning programs improve both behavioural outcomes and academic performance (Durlak et al., 2011).
Challenging the Traditional Ecosystem: Why Students Disengage
Traditional high school systems often rely on assumptions that unintentionally push at-promise students out: attendance equals learning, content delivery equals engagement, failure triggers intervention, students should “catch up” through increased workload, and one pacing model fits all learners.
These assumptions may work for students with stable routines and consistent support. But for many underserved students, these structures create predictable failure points.
When students fall behind, they don’t simply work harder. They often experience a cycle of overwhelm and avoidance. Missing assignments becomes emotional weight. Logging in becomes stressful. A few missed days become a week. A week becomes a month. And eventually, students disappear quietly, not because they lack ability, but because restarting feels impossible.
ThrivePoint exists to solve that specific problem: the restart problem.
The ThrivePoint Operating System: Human + AI Support
ThrivePoint’s model combines four integrated components that work together to produce measurable outcomes.
Fully Online Learning (Flexibility and Access): Students learn online in a competency-focused structure designed for flexible pacing and personalised pathways. However, ThrivePoint does not treat online learning as content delivery. Research on online credit recovery suggests that outcomes can be limited when online coursework is implemented without strong surrounding supports (Rickles et al., 2024). ThrivePoint addresses this by integrating coaching, resource centres, and rapid re-engagement systems.
Resource Centres (Structure, Stability, Belonging): ThrivePoint uses resource centres to provide stability, structure, and human connection. Resource centres support tutoring, small-group instruction, coaching sessions, quiet workspaces, reliable internet access, testing support, and re-engagement routines.
Student Success Coaches (Accountability and Barrier Removal): At ThrivePoint, student success coaching is not optional; it is the centre of the model. Evidence from structured mentoring interventions shows that consistent adult support paired with monitoring and follow-up can improve attendance and academic outcomes for higher-risk students (Guryan et al., 2020).
AI Support Layer (Speed, Consistency, Personalisation): ThrivePoint uses AI to strengthen the adults in the system, not replace them. AI supports the model by identifying disengagement early, summarising student progress, recommending next steps, and reducing administrative workload so staff can spend more time on instruction and coaching. Humans lead. AI supports.
Also Read: The Use of Systemic Constellations in Systemic Management in Organizations
Innovation That Produces Measurable Results
ThrivePoint’s model is designed to improve results across three categories: engagement, credits earned, and Next Big Step outcomes.
Engagement Results: Detect Drift Early and Respond Fast. Research on early warning indicators shows that attendance, course performance, and credit accumulation, especially in the first year of high school, are highly predictive of graduation outcomes (Allensworth & Easton, 2005, 2007). ThrivePoint operationalises this research through weekly engagement metrics such as weekly active participation, time-to-contact, and time-to-return.
Credits Earned: Micro-Lessons and 10-Minute Comeback Plans. Microlearning research suggests that brief, targeted learning experiences can support retention and performance when designed intentionally and aligned to learner needs (Shail, 2019). ThrivePoint applies microlearning as a structured restart pathway that reduces overwhelm and restores momentum.
Next Big Step Outcomes: Purpose-Driven Planning. ThrivePoint measures success beyond graduation by tracking future readiness. Career academy research shows positive impacts on postsecondary and labour-market outcomes when learning is connected to real opportunity structures (Kemple, 2004).
Community Impact: Strengthening Families, Workforce, and Local Stability
ThrivePoint’s impact extends beyond individual students. When at-promise learners graduate, communities benefit in measurable ways through stronger families, workforce development, reduced dropout-related social costs, and scalable school models that can expand responsibly across underserved regions.
Responsible Innovation: Ethics and Trust Built In
ThrivePoint recognises that AI in education must be implemented with care. Ethical design is not optional, especially in underserved communities. ThrivePoint uses role-based access to sensitive data, transparency with students and families, human review for high-stakes decisions, bias monitoring, and strict guidelines for staff use of AI tools. Trust is the foundation of re-engagement.
A Second-Chance Engine Built for Scale
ThrivePoint Academy is built on a belief that should reshape the education ecosystem: students don’t need more pressure, they need a restart that feels possible.
By combining flexible online learning, resource centres, success coaching, AI-driven early warning, micro-learning comeback plans, and Next Big Step planning, ThrivePoint creates measurable outcomes that move students forward, toward graduation and beyond.
Not just a new program. A new ecosystem. One designed for the students who need it most.
Views expressed by: Dr. Timothy A. Smith, President and CEO, Learning Matters Educational Group, United States of America
