Discover Aspire

In 1998, longtime public school educator (and now Deputy Director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) Don Shalvey joined forces with Silicon Valley entrepreneur and Netflix founder Reed Hastings to launch Aspire Public Schools, one of the nation’s first charter management organizations. The mission Don and Reed set out to achieve was simple and straightforward, and it remains the same to this day: open and operate small, high-quality, college prep charter schools in low-income neighborhoods.

Aspire now has 40 community-based schools serving over 16,600 students in California and Tennessee. Our schools range from TK through 12th grade, and College For Certain is the focus for every age group. Teachers and parents partner closely to ensure students are prepared to succeed in college, career, and life.