Authors: Maya Gat and David Magier, Co-founders of Branching Minds

For us, choosing to become a B-Corps in 2015 was a no-brainer. We started Branching Minds as a way to make education more accessible, equitable, and effective, and we are driven by our desire to have a positive impact on society. The governance structure of B-Corps helps facilitate our commitment to creating value for our stakeholders, including our staff, customers, and the wider education community.

Throughout all of the challenges of the past few years, my thoughts kept returning to the Chinese proverb, “Sāi Wēng lost his horse.” For those of you who haven’t heard it before:

I remember thinking last December that if we could just get to 2021, if we could just get through the insanity and exhaustion that was 2020, that we would feel a light at the end of this tunnel. I wanted to buy all of the 2020 dumpster fire gag gifts, as if saying that these challenges were a product of the year 2020 could seal them up tight so they couldn’t possibly follow us into another year. I also know myself to be a relentless optimist, which for the most part has served me well…so I leaned into that optimism hard.

WHOA. 2020, has been some kind of year… A year of unprecedented times -- COVID, extreme weather, a divisive election, soaring unemployment...so much hardship and so much loss. This year has pressure tested our systems, all of them. 

2020 has been a doozy and I’m pretty sure I won’t be alone celebrating the new year of 2021 with a capital C. That being said this Thanksgiving, I, and the entire Branching Minds team, have a ton for which to be grateful. 

The district will transition to the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) in the spring.

DeSoto ISD is looking to take a more holistic approach to teaching its students through a learning model known as a Multi-Tiered System of Supports, the district announced.

I know this election season has been an unusual and particularly contentious one. The near-constant arguing, name-calling and just general melee of the last presidential debate certainly seemed like an invitation to check out from the whole debacle.