The Accelerator Initiative
The Accelerator is a new opportunity for NSNO to partner with and support public schools serving New Orleans students on critical and innovative projects in 2025-26 and 2026-27.
The Round 1 priority deadline has passed. Our team is reviewing the submissions that were entered through October 15, 2025. Schools may continue to submit ideas using the submission form below, and our team will reach out at a later time for any submissions made after October 15, 2025.
The Accelerator: Fueling the next wave of innovation in New Orleans public schools.
The Accelerator will provide schools with strategic resources and partnerships to:
SPARK: Plan or pilot new approaches and ideas
SCALE: Strengthen existing programs and practices to serve more students citywide
SUSTAIN: Execute major portfolio actions that promote the long-term financial sustainability for schools.
Priority Categories
The Accelerator will invest in the following four priority categories:
| Category | Opportunity |
|---|---|
| 1. School Sustainability | Improve long-term financial sustainability for schools. • Reducing the number of empty seats in schools (92% fill rate by SY 27-28). • Increasing the percentage of students in quality facilities (80% of students in Tier 1 and Tier 2 facilities by SY 27-28). • Reducing the number of academically low-performing schools. |
| 2. Diverse Learners | Expand access to support for students with disabilities (SWDs) and multilingual learners (MLLs), including specialized programming. • Test and share learnings about effective tools or practices. • Expand specialized approaches for MLLs and/or SWDs to increase citywide access to quality instruction, services, and programming |
| 3. High School Models | Reimagine pathways into and through enhanced high school models. • Planning or piloting efforts to improve connections and transitions between K-8 and high school. • Planning or piloting efforts to reimagine high school models to create more time and flexibility for students to explore robust pathways. |
| 4. Emerging Opportunities | On a limited basis, support projects that explore additional areas for potential innovation in our system. • Mental Health: New ways for schools to address mental health needs that optimize Medicaid or other funding sources. • Artificial Intelligence (A.I.): Exploration of A.I. tools inside and outside the classroom to help students learn faster and reduce teachers’ workloads. Schools may propose opportunities outside the areas above, but they may not be advanced in this round. |
| Note | • A project may span one or more of the above innovation opportunities. • Schools funded through the Accelerator will be expected to share learnings widely and participate in other NSNO initiatives such as the Insight Survey. |
Apply Now!
Submit an Application Here!
- Click here to read more about what we’re looking for.
- Only New Orleans public schools may submit ideas as the lead applicant. Schools may propose collaborative ideas in partnership with other schools or organizations.
- The priority application deadline is October 15, 2025.
Click here to watch the recorded Virtual Information Session.
Project Timing
Schools may apply for projects that will occur in 2025 – 2027. Work funded through the Accelerator must begin no later than December 2027. We are looking to catalyze projects in the near-term.
Projects funded at earlier stages may be considered for follow-on funding.
Estimated Awards
Below are preliminary estimated award ranges by project type
- Early-stage exploration or planning: $10,000 – $50,000
- Pilot or Launch: $50,000 – $150,000
- Scaling: $100,000 – $250,000
- School Sustainability Action: $250,000+
If you have any questions, email Alvin (alvin@nsno.org) or Holly (holly@nsno.org).
Project Types and Stages
The Accelerator may invest in projects across different types and stages:
SPARK
- Explore and Plan
- Earliest stage ideas.
- The work will result in planning documents or feasibility assessments that informs a potential pilot or sustainability action.
- Pilot or Launch
- Ideas that are ready for execution against an existing plan.
- The work will inform if/how a project might scale in the next 2 years.
SCALE
- Approaches that are underway and poised to expand.
- The work will be to increase and strengthen programs/models at scale.
SUSTAIN
- School Closure
- School Consolidation
- Seat Reduction
- School Relocation
- Facility Co-location
- Operator Merger