Our History
2022
Serving 150+ NYC Schools with Enrichment and Transformation Services
CEI served over 150 NYC Public Schools with school transformation services, professional learning, mentoring and coaching for school leaders and teacher teams, and BOOST enrichment Services including tutoring and coaching for students, Early Stages live theater program, robotics, coding and esports, as well as social action art with Benchmarks and Walls for Change, in partnership with our internationally known visiting artist, Domingo Zapata.
2021
BOOST and Walls for Change During Summer Rising
CEI provided over 40 NYC Public Schools with Project BOOST enrichment services and Walls for Change, social action art and mural project, as students prepared to return to school during the 2021 Summer Rising Program. Â CEI was awarded two multi-year contracts from the New York City Department of Education to lead two full service community schools.
2020
Virtual & Hybrid Innovation During the Pandemic
CEI became an educational partner for Urban Choice Charter School in Rochester, New York. The school received a one year charter renewal and subsequent two year charter renewal term due to the partnership of CEI.   CEI pivoted and created virtual and hybrid opportunities to support school leaders and school communities including virtual professional learning, virtual student tutoring, coding, robotics and social action art and music, all of which improved student engagement. Â
2019
Partnerships with Summit Academy and CAMPA
CEI became an educational partner for Brooklyn’s Summit Academy Charter School for the five-year term of its renewal. CEI became an educational partner for the Collegiate Academy for Mathematics and Personal Awareness Charter School (CAMPA) in Brooklyn, New York.
2018
Qualified as Independent Receiver & 13th Annual Leadership Institute
CEI qualified as an independent receiver for consistently low-performing schools needing turnaround services, taking the organization back to its core mission of creating quality educational opportunities for all students. In addition, CEI presented its 13th Annual Summer Leadership Institute, bringing together hundreds of public-school administrators for a day of state-of-the-art professional learning and sharing best practices.
2017
Personalized & Social-Emotional Learning Initiatives
CEI launched new initiatives in personalized learning and social-emotional learning to support the many schools in its networks to transform the 21st-century learner.
2015
Return to the Name “Center for Educational Innovation”
The organization shortened its name back to “Center for Educational Innovation” (“CEI”).
2014
CEI-PEA Supports 207 Schools, 6th Largest PSO
207 schools selected CEI-PEA as their Partnership Support Organization, making our PSO equivalent to the sixth largest public-school system in the United States.
2013
Arts Expansion and Leader in Me Program
CEI-PEA received funding to expand arts programming into more than 160 New York City public schools and launched the Franklin Covey Leader in Me program to improve learning environments in public schools. CEI-PEA received its first of two New York Charter Dissemination Grants sharing best practices between Hellenic Classical Charter School and public district schools in Queens and Brooklyn, focusing on implementing an early literacy program.
2012
PICCS Expansion to NY and NJ Charter Schools
CEI-PEA expanded the PICCS project to 12 new charter schools in New York and New Jersey with $18 million in federal Teacher Incentive Fund grants.
2010
CEI Network Grows to 118 Schools
The number of schools selecting CEI-PEA as their Partnership Support Organization rose to 118. CEI expanded to 13 new charter schools in New York City and Buffalo with $17.5 million in federal Teacher Incentive Fund grants. In addition, a national network of Independent Charter Schools was launched with a $2 million federal grant.
2008
21st Century Community Learning Centers Launched
CEI-PEA launched 21st Century Community Learning Center programs with three New York City public schools.
2007
Named a NYC Partnership Support Organization (PSO)
CEI-PEA was selected as a Partnership Support Organization (PSO) for New York City public schools and was awarded a $10.5 million federal Teacher Incentive Fund grant to launch PICCS: Partnership for Innovation and Collaboration for Charter Schools, to provide human capital management support, data-use, professional development, intra and inter-school collaboration for teachers and leaders, and social and emotional learning supports.
2004
Expanding Public School Choice Nationwide
CEI-PEA launched an initiative to develop public school choice programs in five major cities across the United States through a multi-year grant from the United States Department of Education.
2003
Project BOOST® Begins
CEI-PEA launched Project BOOST to provide academic, social, and cultural enrichment to under-resourced fourth through eighth-grade students with the ultimate goal of helping them gain admission to quality high schools.
2000
Merger Creates CEI-PEA
CEI merged with the Public Education Association to form the “Center for Educational Innovation – Public Education Association” (CEI-PEA).
1998
First Charter School Resource Center in NY
CEI established the first charter school resource center in New York State.Â
1997
Launch of School Leadership Academy
CEI established the School Leadership Academy under the direction of Dr. Lorraine Monroe to develop and train in-service principals.
1994
Partner in Annenberg Challenge
CEI became a founding partner in the Annenberg Challenge grant to create small public schools and networks among New York City schools.
