RISE PREP MAYORAL ACADEMY

What RISE PREP MAYORAL ACADEMY does

RISE Prep Academies (formerly RISE Prep Mayoral Academy) is a tuition-free K-12 public charter school network headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. The network operates two schools — RISE Prep Lower Academy (K-8) at 30 Cumberland Street and RISE Prep Upper Academy (9-12), launched in 2024 with its inaugural 9th-grade class and temporarily housed at 600 Social Street under a partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Woonsocket. Together the schools serve 640 scholars drawn from Woonsocket, North Smithfield, and Burrillville for the 2024-2025 school year, with Upper Academy planned to grow one grade annually to a maximum of ~400 scholars by 2028-2029. Founded in 2015 through the Building Excellent Schools Fellowship in partnership with Rhode Island Mayoral Academies, the organization employs approximately 80 staff across both schools and retains 90% of staff year-over-year. The student body is approximately 52% minority, 11.6% multilingual learners, and ~20% students with special education needs.

The instructional model is built on extended instructional time (approximately two additional hours of daily instruction versus traditional public schools), tripled literacy time in grades K-3 and doubled literacy time in grades 4-8, additional math instruction across all grades, a 16:1 student-to-teacher ratio in K-8, small class sizes in the high school, and a structured character education program grounded in the RISE values (Respect, Integrity, Self-Determination, Excellence). RISE Prep's technology stack is entirely composed of third-party, off-the-shelf K-12 platforms — ParentSquare for family communication, PowerSchool for student information management, and SchoolRunner for academic progress, attendance, behavior, and teacher-family communication — with no proprietary AI or data assets disclosed. Marketing and enrollment are driven by the website, social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn), community partnerships, school tours, and the ParentSquare communication platform.

As a non-profit public charter school, RISE Prep does not charge tuition. Revenue is generated primarily through Rhode Island state and local per-pupil charter funding formulas, supplemented by federal Title programs, IDEA, and Medicaid funds, plus participation in the National School Lunch Program through Chartwells Food Services. Enrollment is governed by a random public lottery administered by a third party, with applications open in November and the lottery held in April. The school is governed by a Board of Directors, led since founding by Dr. Rosalind DaCruz, and is accountable to the Rhode Island Department of Education and the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education. The network holds a 5-Star NCES/RI DOE School Quality rating, a 4-Star English Language Proficiency rating, and Top 50% math and reading proficiency ranks.

Name

RISE PREP MAYORAL ACADEMY

Legal name

RISE Prep Mayoral Academy

Website

https://riseprepri.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

RISE Prep Academies is a tuition-free K-12 public charter school network in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, operating RISE Prep Lower Academy (K-8) and RISE Prep Upper Academy (9-12) to serve 640 scholars from Woonsocket, North Smithfield, and Burrillville through a lottery-based, college-preparatory model with extended instructional time.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Public Charter School Education

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Charter College-Prep & Advanced Academics Schools (EDAJACAJ)

Keywords

• Public charter school
• K-12 education
• College preparatory
• Tuition-free education
• Charter school network

Headquarters

HQ city

Woonsocket

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. State and Local Funding: Charter schools in Rhode Island receive state and local funding based on specific formulas set by the Rhode Island Department of Education.
2. Federal Funding: Federal funds including Title programs, IDEA, and Medicaid.
3. National School Lunch Program: Participates in National School Lunch Program through Chartwells Food Services, offering free or reduced-price lunches to qualifying students.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

RISE Prep Academies is a tuition-free K-12 public charter school network operating two schools — RISE Prep Lower Academy (K-8) and RISE Prep Upper Academy (9-12) — serving 640 scholars from Woonsocket, North Smithfield, and Burrillville in Rhode Island. The network delivers a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum with extended instructional time, tripled literacy time in grades K-3, small 16:1 class sizes, and character education grounded in RISE values. Enrollment is free and accessed through a third-party random public lottery, with no tuition or fees charged to families.

Product overview

RISE Prep Academies is a tuition-free K-12 public charter school network consisting of two distinct schools: RISE Prep Lower Academy (K-8) and RISE Prep Upper Academy (9-12). Together they serve approximately 640 scholars from Woonsocket, North Smithfield, and Burrillville in Rhode Island. The Lower Academy, established in 2015, is the flagship school providing rigorous college preparatory education with extended instructional time focused on literacy and math. The Upper Academy, launched in 2024 as the network's high school expansion, follows the successful K-8 model and will eventually serve grades 9-12 with a maximum enrollment of 400 students. Both schools operate under a structured learning environment with a college-preparatory curriculum and character education program aligned with RISE values (Respect, Integrity, Self-Determination, Excellence).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• RISE Prep Lower Academy: K-8 public charter school serving students from Woonsocket, North Smithfield, and Burrillville with a rigorous college preparatory program focused on literacy and math.
• RISE Prep Upper Academy

Products and services

• RISE Prep Lower Academy (K-8) The flagship K-8 public charter school serving 570 scholars in grades kindergarten through 8th grade, located at 30 Cumberland Street, Woonsocket, RI. Features a rigorous college preparatory program focused on literacy and math with extended instructional time (triple traditional time in literacy grades K-3, double in grades 4-8), a joyful culture with structure and discipline, 16:1 teacher-to-child ratio, and character education grounded in RISE values. Operates from 7:40 am to 3:25 pm and is open to students from Woonsocket, North Smithfield, and Burrillville.
• RISE Prep Upper Academy (9-12) The high school program (grades 9-12) that opened in the 2024-2025 school year with inaugural 9th grade class of 70 scholars. Located at 600 Social Street, Woonsocket, RI (temporarily leased from Boys and Girls Club). Will grow one grade each year until fully enrolled at 400 scholars in 2027-2028. Features small class sizes, individualized learning approach, rigorous college preparatory curriculum, and personalized college and career counseling. Operates from 7:45 am to 3:00 pm. Open to Woonsocket and Burrillville residents, with North Smithfield residents required to complete 8th grade at RISE Prep to be eligible.

Quantifiable outcome

• 90% staff retention rate year over year
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Boys and Girls Club of WoonsocketcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024RISE Prep has partnered with Boys and Girls Club of Woonsocket to lease educational space for the Upper Academy (High School 9-12) at 600 Social Street location. This temporary arrangement allows the high school to operate while a permanent facility is constructed, set to open in Fall 2027.
• Rhode Island Mayoral AcademiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRISE Prep Academies was established in partnership with Rhode Island Mayoral Academies in September 2015. This partnership helped bring an intentionally diverse and rigorous college preparatory K-8 public charter school to Woonsocket.
• Chartwells Food ServicesminorOthersRISE Prep participates in the National School Lunch Program through partnership with Chartwells Food Services, offering free or reduced-price lunches to qualifying students and lunch for purchase to other families.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Providence Preparatory Charter School: Rhode Island-based charter school operating in Providence. Statewide peer with a similar K-8 college-prep mandate and lottery enrollment, though not a direct K-12 competitor given different geography.
• Hope Academy (Providence, RI): Rhode Island charter school serving Providence-area students. Statewide peer with a tuition-free public charter model and similar lottery enrollment mechanism, though serving a different urban demographic.

Broad incumbents

• National Heritage Academies: Large charter management organization operating K-8 charter schools across multiple states. Comparable on the K-8 tuition-free public charter model with structured college-prep culture, though typically K-8 only.
• Achievement First: Large multi-state charter management organization operating K-12 college-prep schools with extended instructional time and a rigorous literacy/math focus. Comparable operating model and target demographic, though at significantly larger scale and geographically broader.
• Noble Network of Charter Schools: Large charter network operating open-enrollment college-prep high schools. Comparable on the Upper Academy 9-12 model (small class sizes, structured culture, college counseling), though primarily urban and at much larger scale.
• BASIS Charter Schools: National charter school network known for rigorous college-prep academics and high academic outcomes. Comparable on the college-prep charter positioning and K-12 trajectory, though outcomes are typically higher than RISE Prep's current rating.
• Uncommon Schools: Multi-state charter network operating K-12 college-prep schools with extended day/year and a literacy-focused curriculum. Direct operating model parallel to RISE Prep's K-12 design, though at substantially greater scale.
• Charter Schools USA: National charter management organization operating tuition-free public charter schools. Comparable as a scaled education-services operator, though structured as a for-profit management vendor model rather than a single-site charter.

Direct peers

• Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy: Rhode Island charter school network also founded through the Rhode Island Mayoral Academies partnership. It is the most direct comparable in mission, geography, and model, and is where RISE Prep's Upper Academy Principal Josh Falk previously led as head of school.
• KIPP Rhode Island: Rhode Island charter school network serving K-12 students under the national KIPP model. Highly comparable as a tuition-free, college-prep public charter with extended instructional time and similar demographics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/riseprep
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rise-prep-mayoral-academy
• Instagraminstagram.com/riseprepacademies

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about RISE PREP MAYORAL ACADEMY