Dear STS Supporters:

For many in the U.S., 2018 was a year marked by questions about how we treat one another and the planet. At School-to-School International (STS), it was an opportunity to work with our colleagues in developing countries whose challenges are not so different from our own.

They too struggle with questions about how we should engage our peers, understand our communities, and create the kind of planet we want to leave for our children. With them, we used our skills and expertise to find ways to improve teaching and learning while making education systems more effective in preparing the next generation of world citizens and leaders.

A few glimpses from our work in 2018:

• In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, evaluation tools and interactive dashboards developed by STS were used to visualize progress and take action to improve programs to help children read.
• In Syria, information from a household survey conducted by STS was used to identify educational needs in communities displaced by the ongoing crisis.
• In Ethiopia, the results of an STS-designed evaluation system were used to identify the obstacles that keep girls from attending school.
• In Ghana, a math program designed and piloted by STS showed significant gains in student learning—gains so substantial that the government decided to scale the program nationwide.
• Based on work in Morocco, the Philippines, and India, STS shared lessons learned about the policies, teacher training, and parental support needed to reach some of the world’s most vulnerable children, including those with sight and hearing disabilities.

Throughout the year, our work with the Whole Child Model continued. In Guinea, our field office became STS-Guinea—an independent, locally registered NGO. Building on work in over 40 schools since 2002, STS-Guinea now seeks educational research and teacher training opportunities for its communities and has already received support to conduct training for secondary school graduates in English and computer skills. In Tanzania, STS became a locally registered NGO to continue developing the Whole Child Model in this new environment. We look forward to assisting elementary schools in the Arusha District in their efforts to improve education, health, and community engagement so children can learn better.

In all our efforts, we continue to learn from our colleagues as much as we give—and we believe our work together will help us all find new and better ways to live together on this planet.

Dr. Mark Lynd
Co-Founder and President