History and Background

Since 1997, Houston A+ Challenge has raised nearly $90 million to invest in schools across Houston-area school districts including Aldine, Alief, Cypress-Fairbanks, Goose Creek, Houston, Humble and Spring Branch. 

You can read more about our impact during this time in the section labeled Our Impact.

1997 – Houston Annenberg Challenge founded as one of 18 sites in The Annenberg Foundation's call to reform the nation’s public schools; investment from The Brown Foundation stimulates local matching funds; first direct grants totaling $1.4 million awarded to 11 Beacon Schools


1998 – First Reforming Schools Summer Institute; first Critical Friends Group training; direct grants of $1.55 million awarded to 65 schools in 20 Lamplighter Learning Communities


1999 – Second round of $4.64 million in grants to Beacon, Lamplighter Schools; National Speaker Series begins


2000 – K-5 Math Specialists Initiative launched; Partnership for Quality Education team begins redesigning university-level teacher training in Houston


2001 – First class of principals graduates from New Visions in Leadership Academy; high school reform efforts with Houston Independent School District expanded through grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation


2002 – Research shows achievement gap closing for Annenberg schools; Brown and Annenberg foundations commit additional funding to renamed Houston A+ Challenge


2003 – Houston A+, Houston ISD and Houston Community College co-create Challenge Early College High School, the state’s first campus where students can earn a high school diploma and a community college degree in five years; 16 campuses in four regional districts join A+’s high school redesign work


2004 – Houston A+ helps fund and develop the region’s first electronic system to track students across districts; A+, Houston ISD and City of Houston launch first “Reach Out To Dropouts Walk”


2005 – Number of teachers trained as Critical Friends Group coaches surpasses 1,000; principals trained through New Visions reaches 200


2006 – More than 100 teachers participate in the fourth annual Teacher Externship; A+ hosts series of public forums on school finance; first small, internationally-themed high school opens in Houston ISD with support from Houston A+, Asia Society and HCC


2007 – ExxonMobil Foundation expands A+ Math Specialist Initiative into four Houston ISD middle schools; Preparing to Dream college access initiative launches in five local districts


2008 – 10 schools and two districts awarded A+ grants totaling $487,000 to innovate and replicate promising practices in literacy, math and fine arts; A+ launches new academy to recruit, prepare and support new principals for the region’s struggling secondary schools