Spotlight: Education Program

November 19, 2025

Staying the Course:

The Fry Foundation’s Education Program in a Time of Disruption

The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation’s Education Program has a long history of supporting efforts to improve academic achievement for Chicago students. Through strategic investments and partnerships, the Foundation has helped transform Chicago’s educational landscape. Our approach centers on four key funding areas: Principal Leadership, Teacher Professional Learning, Academic Enrichment, and Special Opportunities. As the city and nation face new challenges, the Foundation’s commitment to these priorities remains steadfast, even as it adapts to a rapidly changing environment.

Strategic Focus Areas

Principal Leadership

The Foundation invests in developing and supporting CPS principals, equipping them to provide effective leadership that enhances teacher practices and student outcomes. Grantee partners work closely with principals to implement research-backed strategies and systems that drive improvement. They also collaborate with CPS to design policies and programs that foster strong, sustainable leadership. Research-based approaches and innovation are hallmarks of this work, with increasing emphasis on student experience. Tools like the Cultivate Survey help principals integrate student feedback into instructional efforts, leading to improvements in attendance, engagement, and belonging.

Teacher Professional Learning

Support for teachers is another pillar of the Foundation’s strategy. Grantee partners focus on developing teacher leaders who facilitate adult learning, foster collaboration, and advance equity. Leading Educators and Teaching Lab are notable for their capacity to develop teacher leaders with measurable improvements in student outcomes and teacher engagement. This work ensures that teachers are empowered to implement new strategies, leading to improved classroom practices and student success.

Academic Enrichment

Academic enrichment grants provide rigorous learning opportunities led by highly qualified educators, preparing students for the demands of high school and college coursework. These programs are designed to close achievement gaps and expand access to advanced educational experiences.

Special Opportunities

Recognizing that innovation often happens outside traditional categories, the Foundation also looks for special opportunities. These grants support activities such as educational media, policy advocacy, partner collaborations, and research, advancing the Foundation’s priorities in creative ways.

The Foundation’s investments in collaboration and knowledge sharing have grown. Advance Illinois, The Research Partnership for Professional Learning, and the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research are among the organizations leading these initiatives, helping the field adapt to the rapidly shifting policy environment.

Navigating Disruption: What We’re Hearing from the Field

Chicago’s education landscape is navigating a period of disruption. Leadership changes within CPS, the transition to an elected school board, and continued fiscal pressures have created a shifting context for schools and nonprofit partners. At the same time, federal policy changes and funding uncertainties are influencing how organizations plan and sustain their work.

This summer, Foundation staff met with education grantee partners to better understand how these developments are affecting their efforts. Across conversations, several themes emerged:

• Planning amid uncertainty. Partners shared that while rapid shifts in district leadership and policy can complicate coordination, they are finding new ways to stay aligned with schools and responsive to educator needs.

• Tightening resources. Many organizations are taking a cautious approach to growth, refining priorities and seeking efficiencies as they anticipate future funding constraints.

• Collaboration and learning. Partners emphasized the importance of maintaining strong networks for peer learning and knowledge sharing, even as some traditional structures for convening have changed.

• Commitment to equity. Despite a challenging national climate, partners remain steadfast in their efforts to advance equitable access to quality teaching and learning experiences for all students.

These conversations reinforced a consistent message: while conditions may be unsettled, Chicago’s educators and education organizations continue to demonstrate focus, resilience, and creativity. The Fry Foundation remains committed to standing with them—sustaining support for effective teaching, principal leadership, and academic enrichment, while adapting as needed to ensure continuity and impact.

Going Forward: Flexibility and Continuity

Given the current climate, the Fry Foundation plans to stay the course and stay flexible. Our Education grantmaking will be responsive to disruption, help partners maintain strong programs, protect key infrastructure, and support collaborations that advance effective instructional practices.  We plan to continue the Foundation’s longstanding commitments to principal leadership, teacher support, and academic enrichment, while making modest updates to program guidelines. These updates reflect the ever growing and evolving understanding of what drives school improvement and student growth. 

• Student Experience: Our grantmaking will recognize the classroom learning conditions that support student engagement and consider those factors in funding decisions.

• Collaboration and Learning: The program will continue to look for collaboration among grantee partners and initiatives that document and share new and promising practices.

The past year has been hard. In this climate, there can be a temptation to pursue large-scale strategy changes, but such shifts can be premature and destabilizing. We believe the Foundation’s current strategy—supporting principals, teacher leaders, and academic enrichment—remains relevant and effective. We hope that modest refinements, such as recognizing student experience and placing more focus on nurturing collaboration, will strengthen the program’s impact.

By maintaining flexibility and staying the course on core priorities – including our commitment to equity - the Fry Foundation is well-positioned to respond thoughtfully to emerging disruptions. This approach ensures continuity for the strong work already underway, while remaining responsive to change.