Confidence, Engagement, and Love: The Missing Alumni Data that Will Transform K-12 — from gettingsmart.com by Corey Mohn
Ten years ago, we made a bet on relationships over replication. Instead of franchising a model, we chose to build an ecosystem—the CAPS Network—grounded in the belief that an entrepreneurial approach would create ripples of innovation with exponential scaling power. We believed that by harnessing the power of relationships for good, we could help more students discover who they are and where they belong in the world.
Today, with over 1,200 alumni voices captured in our 2025 Alumni Impact Study, we’re seeing those ripples turn into waves. And we believe these waves can and will be surfed by educators all across the globe. We are committed to the idea that our purpose (providing more students in more places the time and space for self-discovery) is more important than our brand. As such, we want our learnings to be leveraged by anyone and everyone to make a positive impact.
Confidence, Engagement, and Love explores the data we rarely track but desperately need. This piece argues that alumni confidence, sustained engagement, and a sense of being loved by their school communities are leading indicators of long-term success. It challenges K–12 systems to look beyond test scores and graduation rates and instead ask what happens after students leave, who stays connected, and how belonging shapes opportunity. The result is a call to rethink accountability around relationships, not just results.