Today, Remake Learning is proud to announce the recipients of the 2026 National Moonshot Grants: $754,500 invested in 15 projects from across the United States that will test future-facing ideas designed to push the boundaries of teaching and learning while generating insights that can strengthen the field as a whole.
This year’s National Moonshot Grants emerged from Forge Futures 2.0, a national summit on the future of learning co-hosted by Remake Learning and AASA, The School Superintendents Association, in Nashville, Tennessee, in February 2026. Building on the conversations and collaborations sparked during the summit, these grants are helping turn bold ideas jotted down on sticky-notes into real initiatives happening in the real world.
Taken together, these grants reflect the themes shaping the future of learning. Some explore how artificial intelligence might personalize learning and expand opportunity while keeping learners and human relationships at the center. Others rethink where learning happens by connecting schools with workplaces, museums, communities, and civic organizations. Several projects experiment with new approaches to competency-based learning, learner agency, and flexible pathways that better prepare young people for life beyond graduation.
“Moonshot Grants create space for bold experiments that push beyond today’s assumptions and explore what learning could become,” said Tyler Samstag, Executive Director of Remake Learning. “This year’s projects stood out by embracing curiosity, collaboration, and the courage to test ideas that could help shape the future of learning. We’re excited to learn alongside these grantees and share what emerges with communities across the country.”
Meet the 2026 National Moonshot Grantees
Extending the Educator Team: Embedding Community in the Future of Learning
Albuquerque Public Schools, in partnership with Arizona State University Next Education Workforce and ABC Community Schools Partnership, will explore how community school coordinators, educator teams, and AI-supported tools can work together to strengthen classroom learning and school redesign.
Assessment Through Real-World Learning
Big Picture Learning, in partnership with schools across the U.S., will test a networked, competency-based assessment model that recognizes student growth through real-world projects, learner profiles, and digital portfolios.
Manufacturing Math: Applied Mathematics Learning Across Butler County Industry
Butler Area School District, in partnership with KnowledgeWorks and Butler County Manufacturing Consortium, will move mathematics learning into advanced manufacturing facilities, allowing students to earn credit through authentic workplace experiences.
The World is Your Oyster
California Area School District, in partnership with Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Avonworth School District, and Pennsylvania Department of Education, will develop an AI-enabled community credentialing platform that recognizes learning wherever it happens.
Leadership Synchronization Lab
Catalyst at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, in partnership with the Center for School Study Councils, Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units, Wharton Neuroscience Initiative, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, and Annenberg School for Communication, will create a statewide Leadership Synchronization Lab that brings together research, neuroscience, and cross-district collaboration to strengthen educational leadership.
Student-Led Global Policy Forum
Denver Public Schools, in partnership with Allentown School District, will launch a student-led, cross-city policy forum where learners collaborate with community and industry partners across boundaries and borders to shape solutions to real-world challenges.
When Learners Lead: Dreaming & Designing a Week in the Life of a Learning Ecosystem
Education Reimagined, in partnership with PAST Foundation, will engage young people in learner-led ecosystem design sprints that prototype and reimagine future learning ecosystems.
Building the Village: Schools as Infrastructure for Community Prosperity
Fox Chapel Area School District, in partnership with Center for Innovation in Education, will test schools as hubs for community prosperity through intergenerational collaboration and shared school-community governance.
Bridges Through Learning: A School–Museum Co-Design Model for Community-Connected Middle School Learning
History Co:Lab, in partnership with Pittsburgh Public Schools, Smithsonian Institution, and Heinz History Center, will co-design middle school humanities experiences that connect classrooms, museums, families, and communities through civic learning.
The National Service Resilience Pilot
InnovateEDU, in partnership with City Year, Voices for National Service, Educating All Learners Alliance, and Project Unicorn, will develop an AI-powered credentialing system that translates national service experiences into workforce-ready credentials for the AI economy.
AI for Learner-Centeredness: Fueling a New Learning Paradigm
Learner-Centered Collaborative, in partnership with LearnerStudio, will convene intergenerational AI design sprints where learners, educators, families, and community members co-create human-centered AI tools and practices.
The Isha Project
Northgate School District, in partnership with LIGHT Education Initiative, Avonworth School District, Pottstown School District, PedaNow, EF Tours, and The Music Note, will combine phenomenon-based learning, global travel, and long-term mentorship to expand opportunity and leadership development for students.
Indiana County-S.E.E.: Seeing Learning Through Blended Partnerships and Experiences
Purchase Line School District, in partnership with Indiana County Chamber of Commerce and Indiana County Technology Center, will pilot a county-wide “unwalled” senior year where students earn credit through flexible, competency-based learning across workforce, college, and civic settings.
Unbounded Pathways: Co-Creating Future-Ready High School Learning
South Fayette Township School District, in partnership with Digital Promise and Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, will create flexible, competency-based learning pathways that blend coursework, internships, mentorship, and community experiences into personalized routes toward future careers.
The Embedded Microschool Engine: Transforming Public Middle Schools from Within
World of Work Foundation, in partnership with Cajon Valley Union School District, Los Coches Creek Middle School, and Bostonia Global, will embed a competency-based microschool within a traditional public middle school to explore new models for learner-centered education.
Congratulations to this year’s National Moonshot Grant recipients, and thank you to every team that submitted a proposal. The creativity, ambition, and collaborative spirit reflected in this year’s applications demonstrate the extraordinary momentum building around the future of learning.
The 2026 National Moonshot Grants are made possible through the generous support of The Grable Foundation, Siegel Family Endowment, Richard King Mellon Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, and The Buhl Foundation. Together, these supporters are helping create the conditions for bold ideas to take root and for communities across the country to shape the future of learning.