The Leadership Schools Network, a project of Future Focused Education, is based on the knowledge that true solutions come from the ground up. The Network is a learning hub that seeks to foster connection and learning opportunities across education professionals and schools.
Our six essential design principles:

Learning Content and Skills through the Lens of Industry via Learning By Doing

Deep, Deliberate Collaboration with Industry and Community

Staff as Trusted, Professional Generalists
The Leadership Schools Network was born from a vision to address the widening gap between students who were performing within the confines of the traditional education system and those who were not being served. When the Network moved from an idea into action in 2013, one out of every three students in Albuquerque was dropping out of school. Troubling graduation rates, disengagement, and stark workforce-development challenges indicated a great need for highly impactful, relevant schools that would prepare youth for their future.
The Leadership Schools Network was initiated as a program of Future Focused Education, a nonprofit organization that works to advance the best education for the students who need it most.

Over the years, the vision for the Network has grown to include schools and educators who adopt the LSN approach, and sharing the Network model with partners in other communities across the US.
School accountability as it currently exists limits innovation because you are accountable for seat time and test scores, even though both students and industry are saying it doesn’t work for them. So with Future Focused saying, “Let’s talk to industry about how to prepare students and improve health outcomes,” it has changed the way I think.
School Design partner in Memphis, TN
Leadership High Schools in Albuquerque
X3 Internship Program
- Students are paired with local employers to provide meaningful work experiences and a monthly stipend
- Opens doors to future careers and higher education for local marginalized youth
- Fall and spring sessions: 13 weeks, 12 hours/wk, $2,500 per intern
- Summer sessions: Customized to meet employer needs