April 2025 Newsletter
Spreading remarkable God-centered education in the city
Dear Friends,
Spreading Hope Network exists to spread remarkable, God-centered education in our nation’s cities. We come alongside kingdom entrepreneurs to launch and scale God-centered schools, focused on underserved communities.
To put it more simply, we want to help you give the best education to those who need it most. Please enjoy the updates and movement opportunities in this newsletter edition.
In Christ,
Michael Bolland
Managing Director
Plunge into the Movement
We are eager to welcome more leaders into this movement.
The primary way we do this is through immersive school visit experiences we call “Plunges.”
Over 150 leaders from 95 cities (white dots) have visited us in Minneapolis to immerse themselves in the Hope Academy model and discover what it takes to write a similar story in their city.
Which city will God send leaders from next?
Next Option: June 16th-17th.
Local Movement Rallies
The Lord recently led us to try something new.
We’ve often wondered what we can do to spark local intrigue of a given city, and the Lord gave us the idea of a RALLY.
The premise is to work with local leaders to gather people from educational, ministry, business, and legislative circles to cast a vision and allow stakeholders to hear about the opportunity to be a part of solving for the dearth of supply and access to high-quality God-centered options for low-income, diverse families.
God gave us Jonathon Basurto, an “Edu-preneur” in Arizona (Tucson), as our pioneer for this new idea. Jonathon leads one of SHN’s Affiliate Schools, the South Campus of Pusch Ridge Christian Academy. They provide an innovative dual language (Spanish-English) immersion program at their Classical Christian school.
Unbeknownst to us, Jonathon had been making connections with people who were burdened by the educational options in their community. When he shared of the groundwork laid, we knew God was orchestrating something, and we had to partner together. So, last month, Russ Gregg & Tom Jones went down to Tucson to join Jonathon and other leaders in a co-hosted rally. We’re excited for the growing interest in Arizona!
If you are interested in collaborating with us on a rally in your area, then email to tom.jones@spreading-hope.org.
More Updates
1. Back in February, Russ Gregg & Hope Academy leadership announced a succession plan for the next Head of School. After 25 years, Russ is going to co-lead the school with Kelvin Simms (Head of School Designate) for a period before handing him the baton fully.
The Lord is leading Russ toward more and more involvement with Spreading Hope. For further info, please watch the announcement video below.
2. Another thing that happened in February was a gathering in Orlando, FL of the New City Ed Alliance. Graciously, the team from Ecclesial School Initiative, an SHN Founder School, hosted this convening (picture below).
We spent an entire day engaging the topic of leadership development, including topics such as how to recruit/inspire the next generation, developing & multiplying your own leadership, and leaving a legacy.
We thoroughly enjoyed fellowship around a shared passion to expand access to God-centered education in cities across the US.
Click the link below for an overview pdf of this group. If you’d like to know more, then email michael.bolland@spreading-hope.org.
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