Open Up CEO, Jason Isaacs, reflects on 2025 and shares how we expanded access to high-quality teaching and learning through educator-centered curriculum, professional learning, and growing peer communities—highlighting the impact of district partnerships and a continued commitment to supporting educators and students nationwide.

As I reflect on 2025, I am filled with gratitude for the educators, partners, students, and staff who continue to advance our shared belief: that every student deserves access to high-quality learning experiences, and every educator deserves the resources, community, and professional learning needed to make that possible. Challenges came our way this year, but the real story is how we united to overcome them. 

At Open Up Resources, our mission has always extended beyond a single subject area. We exist to create and make accessible high-quality instructional resources, to cultivate peer learning communities, and to deliver professional learning that is responsive, job-embedded, and grounded in the realities of classrooms. This year, our work across curriculum, professional learning, and partnerships reflected that commitment in meaningful and measurable ways.

Supporting Instructional Quality at Scale in California

In 2025, Open Up Resources reached a major milestone with the official approval of Open Up Math K–8 California Standards by the California Department of Education. Available for the 2026–27 school year, this curriculum is fully aligned to the California Mathematics Framework and designed to support diverse learners through deep understanding, collaboration, and reasoning.

More broadly, this approval demonstrates Open Up’s ability to partner with states and districts to deliver standards-aligned, research-based instructional materials at scale, while remaining deeply attentive to student experience and educator needs. It positions us to support districts across California as they strengthen instruction, build coherence, and foster learning environments where all students can thrive.

If you’re a California educator, we’d love to have you join us for our free, virtual professional learning series created just for you. Whether you’re in the classroom, coaching teachers, leading a school, or supporting math at the district level, this series is your space to grow. Together, we’ll dig into strategies for supporting language and content at the same time, boosting student discourse, and opening the doors to high-quality math instruction for multilingual learners. Learn more and register here.

Learning From Classrooms: Humanizing Teaching and Learning

This year also marked an important step forward for our Humanizing Mathematics PreK–5 curriculum. Successful pilots across multiple classrooms provided critical insight into how instructional materials can celebrate  student identity, spark genuine engagement, and create  meaningful learning experiences.

To ensure strong implementation, we launched Humanizing Mathematics Professional Learning, reinforcing our belief that high-quality materials must be paired with thoughtful, tailored support. This work reflects our broader commitment to equipping educators with not only resources, but also the structures, guidance, and peer connections needed to bring those resources to life in classrooms.

Sustained Partnerships That Build Capacity

Open Up’s Professional Learning team began a multi-year partnership with Golden LEAF Schools and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to support a cohort of 10 low-performing middle schools serving grades 6–8. Over five years, educators, instructional coaches, and school leaders will engage in sustained, job-embedded professional learning focused on effective curriculum implementation and long-term instructional capacity building.

This partnership exemplifies OUR’s approach to professional learning: responsive, collaborative, and designed for lasting impact rather than short-term compliance.

Innovating for Impact and Accountability

In 2025, we launched our first Outcomes-Based Contracting (OBC) partnership with Afya Baltimore Inc. schools. This innovative model ties a portion of service-provider payment directly to measurable, student-centered outcomes.

This partnership established a replicable, evidence-informed framework for future district engagements—one that emphasizes shared accountability, transparency, and a focus on outcomes that matter. It reflects OUR’s commitment to continuous improvement and responsible stewardship of district resources.

Convening Educators Through Peer Community

At the core of our work? Community. This year, Open Up Resources hosted HIVE 2025 — and wow, did educators show up! More than 300 teachers and leaders from across the country came together to learn, and collaborate. And with a 9.6/10 rating, it’s safe to say we made an impact.

OUR is proud to be a place where educators grow together, swap genius ideas, and walk away with not only new strategies — but new friends.

Mark your calendar for HIVE 2026 — Las Vegas, July 13–15 — and get ready for 2½ days of professional learning and connection with educators from across the country.

Investing Directly in Students

We were proud to award the 2nd annual Open Up Resources High School Mathematics Scholarship in 2025. Five graduating seniors from Thornwood High School and Thornridge High School in Thornton Township High School District 205 were named recipients: Daniel Martinez, Jeremy A. Price, Zimbiat Kanoyinsola Jimoh, Andrea Villalobos, and Zamiyah Imani Martin.

The $15,000 scholarship- awarded as two $5,000 scholarships, two $2,000 scholarships, and one $1,000 scholarship- supports students pursuing higher education or vocational training in the field of mathematics. It’s one more way OUR shows what we believe at our core: expanding access means investing not just in educators, but in the learners who will shape tomorrow.

Looking Ahead

As we move into 2026, I know we will face unique challenges and barriers to overcome. We  remain dedicated to partnering to find solutions that fit each district by being focused on what matters most: ensuring educators have access to high-quality instructional resources, meaningful peer community, and professional learning that adapts to their context and goals.

I look forward to expanding our impact and educational opportunities across the country.

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