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Silicon Schools Fund Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Silicon Schools Fund Inc

The mission of the silicon schools fund is to improve education through supporting the launch of excellent new schools, improving academic instruction in existing schools, and by funding some of the boldest innovations in education happening in the country.

$6.0M
Granted FY2024still arriving
51
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$591k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$43MPublic Safety & Disaster$573kArts & Culture$303kScience & Tech$100kCrime & Legal$50k
02FY2024 · 51 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $8k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $375k
  • $50k–250k33 grants · $4.0M
  • $250k+4 grants · $1.7M
$100,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$27M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SUMMIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS$591,061
KIPP NOR CAL$384,948
ALLEGIANCE STEAM ACADEMY$375,424
GOLDEN CHARTER ACADEMY$333,684
ROCKETSHIP EDUCATION$237,250
AMERICAN RIVER COLLEGIATE ACADEMY$217,211
POLYTECHNIC ACADEMY$200,000
MAGNOLIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS$200,000
UNBOUND STOCKTON COMMUNITY SCHOOL$200,000
KAIROS LUMINARY ACADEMY HS$166,000
INSTRUCTION PARTNERS$150,000
EDNOVATE$150,000
FORTUNE SCHOOL$150,000
RELAY GSE$150,000
CAPITAL COLLEGE & CAREER ACADEMY$150,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 63% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%NAVIGATOR SCHOOLS: $500k → 7%SUMMIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $591k → 7%PERSEVERANCE PREP: $300k → 8%YU MING #2: $400k → 10%BELLWETHER EDUCATION PARTNERS INC: $500k → 8%SUMMIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $300k → 7%ALLEGIANCE STEAM ACADEMY: $375k → 14%BUILDING EXCELLENT SCHOOLS: $400k → 16%CLOVIS GLOBAL ACADEMY: $289k → 19%BUILDING EXCELLENT SCHOOLS: $300k → 16%WESTLAKE CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL: $400k → 12%ROCKETSHIP EDUCATION: $600k → 7%ASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $508k → 10%ASPEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $551k → 19%ROCKETSHIP EDUCATION: $600k → 7%CHARTHOUSE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $350k → 9%ASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $442k → 10%ACHIEVE CHARTER SCHOOL PARADISE: $318k → 18%GOLDEN CHARTER ACADEMY: $334k → 19%VOICES COLLEGE-BOUND LANGUAGE ACADEMY: $505k → 8%CHARTHOUSE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $303k → 9%ASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $400k → 10%VOICES COLLEGE: $400k → 8%ASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $290k → 10%KIPP BAY AREA: $500k → 10%KIPP BAY AREA: $500k → 10%KIPP BAY AREA: $500k → 10%NEW SCHOOL OF SAN FRANCISCO: $300k → 10%KIPP NOR CAL: $385k → 10%FORTUNE SCHOOL: $430k → 12%KIPP BAY AREA: $320k → 10%FORTUNE SCHOOL: $327k → 12%ENVISION SCHOOLS: $300k → 10%FORTUNE SCHOOL: $265k → 12%GROWTH PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $300k → 8%KIPP BAY AREA: $300k → 10%FORTUNE SCHOOLS: $257k → 12%ENVISION SCHOOLS: $275k → 10%OXFORD DAY ACADEMY: $300k → 7%HAYWARD COLLEGIATE: $300k → 7%ALDER GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: $250k → 7%YU MING CHARTER SCHOOL: $348k → 10%INNOVATE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $254k → 8%CRISTO REY DE LA SALLE: $500k → 10%ALPHA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $340k → 8%EAST BAY INNOVATION ACADEMY: $300k → 10%AURUM ACADEMY: $300k → 10%AURUM PREPARATORY ACADEMY: $253k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
MN
IL
NY
MA
OR
CT
RI
CA
MO
VA
TN
DC
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$41M · 64 repeat orgs$3.5M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +115% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

64 repeat relationships: 35 still active in FY2024, 29 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

64
34

Total granted

$41M
$2.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+115%
0%

Still filing today

84%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.3M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationPublic BenefitPhilanthropyScience & TechOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • KB
    KIPP BAY AREA SCHOOLS
    8× · 2017–2024 · $2.9M · revenue +126%
  • ROCKETSHIP EDUCATION
    8× · 2017–2024 · $2.2M · revenue +95%
  • AP
    ASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
    6× · 2017–2024 · $2.0M · revenue +53%

Funded once

  • BE
    BELLWETHER EDUCATION PARTNERS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $500k · revenue +27%
  • GP
    GO Public Schools
    one grant, 2019 · $175k · revenue -71%
  • TC
    The Center for Better Schools
    one grant, 2018 · $150k · revenue -94%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Elite Public Schools

To ensure students reach their fullest potential through access to learning spaces that honor and celebrate students' rich cultural heritage and challenge them with rigorous and relevant learning experiences designed to make them active…

Education
2
Alternative Schools Inc

To help each child reach his/her full potential by cultivating an active village of parents, community members, and stakeholders involved in providing an individual, personal, and conceptual learning environment for each student.

Education
3
The Language Academy of Sacramento

The las mission is to create a learning community where students: utilize bilingualism and biliteracy (spanish and english) to achieve academic excellence and apply skills in real-world situations and diverse settings; develop and exhibit…

Education
4
Sonoma Charter School

Sonoma charter school seeks to achieve academic excellence through engaged learning in a setting that involves students, teachers, and parents.

Education
5
Bridges Charter School

Our mission is to educate the whole child using a combination of innovative curriculum and instruction along with social/emotional education embedded in the program. students will be enabled to reach their innate intellectual, creative,…

Education
6
Leadership Public Schools

Our mission is to create inclusive, empowering, and college-preparatory experiences that equip students to succeed in college, career, and as leaders in their communities.

Education
7
Mastery Charter High School

All students learn the academic and personal skills they need to be truly prepared for postsecondary success and able to pursue their dreams.

Education
8
The International School of San Francisco

Guided by the principles of academic rigor and diversity, the international school of san francisco offers programs of study in french and english to prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to…

Education
9
Pacific View Charter School

To focus on the success of each student & involve parents in the education of their children. the school is comitted to providing appropriate physical space, materials, qualified personnel, and staff development in order to guide the…

Education
10
Inland Leaders Charter Schools

Ilcs is committed to providing a world-class education for students that will equip them with the critical 21st century skills necessary to be successful in life. this will be accomplished as we: innovate practices, accelerate achievement,…

Education
11
South Shore Charter School

The mission of south shore charter school is to cultivate students the tenacity, integrity, and curiosity needed to become innovative and socially responsible leaders, ready to face and solve the ever-changing challenges facing our…

Education
12
Tomorrow's Leadership Collaborative Charter School

The mission of tlc is to educate diverse students through a rigorous, standards-based, collegepreparatory program to become conscientious, caring, and responsible 21st century citizens. tlc is grounded in an inclusive vision of teaching…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Growth Public Schools; the most unlike its peers is Expedition Academy Santa Cruz. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

88 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 88 of the 110 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

9
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
27
Early backer (in before they grew)
84/88
Grantees still filing
64/88
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

KIPP BAY AREA SCHOOLS: $2,884,948 · EducationKIPP BAY AREA SCHOOLSROCKETSHIP EDUCATION: $2,202,975 · EducationROCKETSHIP EDUCATIONASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $1,988,639 · EducationASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLSVOICES COLLEGE-BOUND LANGUAGE ACADEMIES: $1,690,900 · EducationREX AND MARGARET FORTUNE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: $1,538,950 · EducationNAVIGATOR SCHOOLS: $1,332,837 · EducationSUMMIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $1,328,561 · EducationYU MING CHARTER SCHOOL: $1,261,500 · Education+67 more: $22,424,250 · Education+67 moreThe Rocklin Academy: $999,766 · OtherThe Rocklin Acad…HAYWARD COLLEGIATE INC: $840,000 · OtherHAYWARD COLLEGIA…CRISTO REY DE LA SALLE EAST BAY HIGH SCHOOL INC: $810,500 · OtherCRISTO REY DE LA…Franklin-McKinley School District: $589,000 · OtherFranklin-McKinle…PERSEVERANCE PREPARATORY INC CASE #23-51070: $557,000 · OtherPERSEVERANCE PRE…MILPITAS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: $365,000 · OtherMILPITAS UNIFIED…ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF OAKLAND A CORPORATION SOLE: $310,000 · Other+24 more: $1,937,500 · Other+24 moreINNOVATE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $473,500 · PhilanthropyKERN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $295,000 · PhilanthropyEAST BAY INNOVATION ACADEMY: $638,686 · Public BenefitTHE AMERICAN AI FORUM: $15,000 · Science & Tech
Education$36,653,560Other$6,408,766Philanthropy$768,500Public Benefit$638,686Science & Tech$15,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetKIPP BAY AREA SCHOOLS: $2,884,948 over 8y, 0.7% of budgetROCKETSHIP EDUCATION: $2,202,975 over 8y, 0.7% of budgetASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $1,988,639 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetVOICES COLLEGE-BOUND LANGUAGE ACADEMIES: $1,690,900 over 7y, 3.3% of budgetREX AND MARGARET FORTUNE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: $1,538,950 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetNAVIGATOR SCHOOLS: $1,332,837 over 7y, 3.3% of budgetSUMMIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $1,328,561 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetYU MING CHARTER SCHOOL: $1,261,500 over 7y, 4.9% of budgetASPEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS INCORPORATED: $1,211,330 over 5y, 4.3% of budgetALPHA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $1,030,250 over 7y, 1.7% of budgetThe Rocklin Academy: $999,766 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetENVISION EDUCATION INC: $927,973 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetALDER GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: $850,000 over 5y, 4.2% of budgetNEW SCHOOL OF SAN FRANCISCO (NSSF): $843,000 over 6y, 5.4% of budgetHAYWARD COLLEGIATE INC: $840,000 over 4y, 59% of budgetTHE GOLDEN CHARTER ACADEMY: $833,684 over 4y, 4.5% of budgetAURUM PREPARATORY ACADEMY INC: $819,610 over 5y, 44% of budgetWESTLAKE CHARTER SCHOOL: $810,000 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetCharthouse Public Schools: $777,000 over 5y, 8.7% of budgetLIGHTHOUSE COMMUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $768,000 over 6y, 1.3% of budgetACHIEVE CHARTER SCHOOL OF PARADISE: $744,931 over 4y, 9.2% of budgetCALIBER PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $703,830 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetBES INC: $700,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetGLOBAL ACADEMY INC: $688,024 over 4y, 12% of budgetEAST BAY INNOVATION ACADEMY: $638,686 over 4y, 6.4% of budgetGROWTH PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $607,975 over 4y, 33% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $600,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPERSEVERANCE PREPARATORY INC CASE #23-51070: $557,000 over 5y, 96% of budgetOXFORD DAY ACADEMY INC: $530,000 over 3y, 35% of budgetALLEGIANCE STEAM ACADEMY INC: $519,474 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetINVICTUS ACADEMY INC: $510,000 over 4y, 13% of budgetBELLWETHER EDUCATION PARTNERS INC: $500,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetINNOVATE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $473,500 over 4y, 4.0% of budgetRELAY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: $473,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetCAPITAL COLLEGE & CAREER ACADEMY: $422,025 over 3y, 35% of budgetRED BRIDGE EDUCATION: $410,000 over 5y, 25% of budgetLAUREL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE: $400,000 over 4y, 46% of budgetSTREAM CHARTER SCHOOL: $382,000 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetDESIGN TECH HIGH SCHOOL: $360,000 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetEDUCATION FOR CHANGE: $359,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetKAIROS PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $313,025 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetKERN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $295,000 over 2y, 3.8% of budgetAccelerate Institute: $280,000 over 3y, 6.0% of budgetCRISTO REY SAN JOSE HIGH SCHOOL: $260,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $250,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBay Area Hybrid College Initiative DBA Rivet School: $231,500 over 3y, 7.2% of budgetACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC: $215,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetLATINOS FOR EDUCATION INC: $200,000 over 2y, 5.8% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds KIPP BAY AREA SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds ROCKETSHIP EDUCATION ↗
  • Who funds ASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds VOICES COLLEGE-BOUND LANGUAGE ACADEMIES ↗
  • Who funds REX AND MARGARET FORTUNE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION ↗
  • Who funds NAVIGATOR SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds SUMMIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds YU MING CHARTER SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds ASPEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds ALPHA PUBLIC SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds The Rocklin Academy ↗
  • Who funds ENVISION EDUCATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ALDER GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION ↗
  • Who funds NEW SCHOOL OF SAN FRANCISCO (NSSF) ↗
  • Who funds HAYWARD COLLEGIATE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE GOLDEN CHARTER ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds AURUM PREPARATORY ACADEMY INC ↗
  • Who funds WESTLAKE CHARTER SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds Charthouse Public Schools ↗
  • Who funds LIGHTHOUSE COMMUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds ACHIEVE CHARTER SCHOOL OF PARADISE ↗
  • Who funds CALIBER PUBLIC SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds BES INC ↗
  • Who funds GLOBAL ACADEMY INC ↗
  • Who funds EAST BAY INNOVATION ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds GROWTH PUBLIC SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds Teach for America Inc ↗
  • Who funds PERSEVERANCE PREPARATORY INC CASE #23-51070 ↗
  • Who funds OXFORD DAY ACADEMY INC ↗
  • Who funds ALLEGIANCE STEAM ACADEMY INC ↗
  • Who funds INVICTUS ACADEMY INC ↗
  • Who funds BELLWETHER EDUCATION PARTNERS INC ↗
  • Who funds INNOVATE PUBLIC SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds RELAY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION ↗
  • Who funds CAPITAL COLLEGE & CAREER ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds RED BRIDGE EDUCATION ↗
  • Who funds LAUREL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds STREAM CHARTER SCHOOL ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

New Schools FundCharter Fund Inc D/B/…Charles and Helen Sch…Walton Family Foundat…California Charter Sc…T Gary and Kathleen R…Lead LiberatedQuest FoundationGates FoundationSilicon Valley Commun…Marin Community Found…Great Public Schools …
New Schools FundCA64.3× affinity32 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: New Schools Fund · Charter Fund Inc D/B/A Charter School Growth Fund · Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation · Walton Family Foundation Inc · California Charter Schools Association · T Gary and Kathleen Rogers Private Family Foundation · Lead Liberated · Quest Foundation · Gates Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · Great Public Schools Now

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Silicon Schools Fund Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Silicon Schools Fund Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Achievement First Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
43report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 110 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Silicon Schools’ filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home