Bold By Choice Podcast | S3 E2: Hear from Sarah Anderson

Beyond College Prep

A reflection from Sarah Anderson

For most of my career, I have been driven by one question. Who gets access to great schools, and who gets left out?

That question is what brought me to Blackstone Valley Prep, and it is what continues to guide our work every day. Serving students from four very different communities in Rhode Island, we were founded on the belief that boundaries based on geography, income, and race are not inevitable. They are choices. And schools can choose differently.

On the Bold by Choice podcast, I had the opportunity to reflect on what that looks like in practice. At Blackstone Valley Prep, it means designing schools where students from urban and suburban communities learn together, challenge one another, and grow together. It means holding high academic expectations for every child while also building a community where students feel known, supported, and valued.

One of the moments I shared during the conversation was watching an elementary math lesson improve dramatically from one year to the next. The curriculum did not work the first time. Instead of blaming students or moving on, our teachers collaborated, adjusted, and taught it better. That growth did not stay in one classroom. It spread across every school in the network. That is how we work. We learn together, improve together, and hold ourselves accountable to doing better for kids.

Our students experience this intentional design at every level. In elementary school, classrooms are energetic and relational. In high school, students take AP courses, participate in dual enrollment, and pursue internships while still being deeply known by adults who support them. Families choose Blackstone Valley Prep not only for results, but for a community that walks with them from kindergarten through graduation and beyond.

More than eighty percent of our graduates are first generation college students, and one hundred percent leave with a postsecondary plan. Increasingly, we are expanding what success means, recognizing that college is one pathway among many. Our responsibility is to prepare students for the futures they want, not the futures we assume for them.

This work is hard. It requires constant adjustment, trust in educators, and a relentless belief in what students are capable of becoming. What keeps me going, even on the hardest days, is simple. Our students are worth it.

I am grateful for the opportunity to share our story and to be part of a broader movement of schools proving that when we design with intention, expand opportunity, and lead with purpose, we can change what is possible in public education.

🎧 Season 3, Episode 2 – “Beyond College Prep”
Featuring Sarah Anderson, Blackstone Valley Prep