CORE ENGINE
The operating system for your school.
We build the engine. You build the students.
Carefully chosen learning apps, single sign-on, adaptive assessments, and a weekly Goal Tracker for every student - set up for you, live in days.
Start your school's engineRunning a school? Brace yourself.
Stand up an academic stack the usual way, and here's what it costs you before a single student logs in.
$5-10k
in setup costs alone
4-6 wks
of research & licensing
12+ hrs
of IT setup
5-10
logins per student, daily
You'll spend more time managing tech than designing learning experiences. And after all of it - it's still just a pile of apps with no day-by-day game plan.
Send us a roster. Wake up to a running school.
Core Engine does the R&D heavy lifting. Here's what changes the day you switch on.
$5-10k in setup costs
-> Zero setup fees. Licenses pass through at cost.
4-6 weeks of research
-> Live in days. We do the heavy lifting.
12 hours of IT setup
-> Send your roster. Wake up to single sign-on.
A pile of apps, no plan
-> Weekly Goal Trackers. Daily help to stay on track.
Carefully chosen apps. Six-plus subjects. One login.
Roughly nine field-tested apps across every core subject, curated and refreshed as better tools emerge. The stack changes. Your students' experience doesn't.
Math fact fluency
Math (K-12)
Reading
Language
Science
Electives
Field-tested. Full benefit of bulk app pricing- 100% pass-through, no markup.
The Goal Tracker - the engine behind the apps.
Gap-fill assessments + Goal Tracker + AI apps = adaptive, personalized learning
Guides print the tracker and coach to it. Students cross off the work like a motivating to-do list — and actually finish their goals every day.
Every week, we analyze each student's data across every subject to optimize their goals.
About the host
Heather Clayton Staker
From Harvard researcher to school builder
For nearly two decades, I've studied how innovative schools work—and why so many promising educational ideas fail to scale.
Today, I lead Guide School and World Microschools, where we've moved beyond theory and put these ideas into practice with real students.
In Indonesia, students using our academic engine achieved 3.6× expected academic growth, proving that personalized learning can produce extraordinary results when the right systems are in place.
We're now bringing the same model to schools and learning communities around the world—from microschools and homeschool co-ops to innovative public and private schools.
What I've learned is surprisingly simple:
Most schools don't need more apps.
They need a coherent academic system and loving Guides.
In this training, I'll show you the framework we've used to combine assessments, AI-powered learning tools, Goal Trackers, and Guide support into a single academic engine that helps students thrive.
And I'll share exactly how you can apply these ideas in your own school.
Harvard College | Harvard MBA | McKinsey Strategy Consultant | Christensen Institute | California State Board of Education | Author of multiple books on educational innovation | Founder, Guide School | Founder, World Microschools | 3.6× student growth
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Frequently asked questions
Is this only for microschools?
Do I need to use Core Engine to benefit from this training?
How long is it, and do I have to be there live?
Are these results realistic for my students?
You don't need more edtech. You need a better system.
Whether you're launching a new school or leading an established one, the technology can quickly become overwhelming. Between researching apps, managing licenses, creating student accounts, and tracking progress, it's easy to spend hundreds of hours building systems before students ever log in.
The good news is that you don't have to figure everything out from scratch. High-performing schools follow a handful of powerful principles that make personalized learning simpler, more scalable, and more effective.
In this free training, I'll share the frameworks behind the academic engine that helped our students achieve 3.6× expected growth. Whether you ultimately choose Core Engine or build your own solution, you'll leave with practical ideas you can immediately apply in your school.
FREE LIVE TRAINING
The Academic Engine Behind 3.6× Student Growth
June 26, 2026 • 11:00 AM Central
No replay. Live attendees only.
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