We’re thrilled to celebrate 15 years of Proximity Learning!
We aren’t a pandemic-born company jumping on the virtual trend. We are experts in teaching online providing high-quality instruction through certified educators. Our purpose is to serve students, connecting them with the expert teachers they deserve. The goal is to change communities, spreading educational equity one school at a time.
History of Proximity Learning
In November 2009, Evan Erdberg founded Proximity Learning. “Proximity Learning was founded to bring equity to students via quality instruction in core classes,” he explains. “Math, Science, English, and History are tested and required courses you need to graduate, go to college, and have a career. We ensure all students, no matter where they are, get access to a certified teacher in these essential classes.”
Myken Caviness, Vice President of Client Success, has been with Proximity since the beginning. From her perspective, Proximity brings the heart to education. “Evan really humanized virtual education because he came from a background of teacher observations and saw firsthand how the lack of teachers affected students. It’s an equity issue because even 15 years ago, there were classrooms that didn’t have teachers. It’s not just a ‘nice to have.’ There is truly an inequitable experience for kids that Evan was seeing.”
And so, Proximity Learning began connecting certified teachers to schools struggling with the teacher shortage.
Coming of Age
As you can imagine, Proximity Learning is an education company so we foster a culture of learning. The company you partner with today has come a long way from its humble origins.
Our founding model has changed as we respond quickly to client needs. Firstly, we immediately learned that while we could provide 2-3 days of instruction for elective and world language courses, core classes required a full 4-5 day week of lessons. We had to adjusted how teachers were hired and courses were staffed. Then, we moved on to educator support.
Myken explains, “One of the biggest evolutions we faced was we thought if we gave schools a teacher, they would give us everything else including curriculum and resources. We quickly found out we couldn’t just provide a teacher because every school is different. Now, when we provide a teacher, we provide resources to back them up.”
“In order to create equity, you have to make sure the educator is prepared.”
“A huge improvement was that we had to create curriculum that teachers could use from state to state, we had to make sure we had a learning management system (LMS) that could be used from state to state, we had to have a video conferencing program that could be integrated from state to state. We provide everything behind the teacher to make sure that teacher is prepared.” Proximity Learning created an infrastructure to meet the needs of teachers and students across the country.
Lastly, Proximity Learning formed client success pods to surround the district in support. Our pods are cross-departmental teams including partnership directors, human resources, teacher accountability, and back-end data specialists that work together to provide fast and effective service to our school district partners.
“People don’t give enough credit to how not having a teacher affects students as a whole. We’re filling that gap for students, so they know there’s someone invested in their education. It makes a huge impact.” – Myken Caviness
15 Years of Impact
“Through our trials we’ve figured out how to master virtual instruction,” Evan says. “We know how to deliver high-quality education remotely, how to hold the teacher to our standards, and how build out the right curriculum to support them. I’m proud that our corporate team is made of mostly former teachers. We are a company for educators by educators.”
“We’re proud that we’ve been able to provide a certified teacher to schools that didn’t have one for years,” Myken says. “We caught teachers who were leaving the profession, offered flexibility, and now we’ve improved overall school ratings with some clients because they now have access to educators instead of substitutes. We’ve truly stuck to our mission to connect all learners with the expert teachers they deserve after all these years.”
Renewing Hope in Education
Proximity Learning is inspired by the school districts that will do anything they can to help their students. We’re encouraged to continue innovating because it’s what students, teachers, and administrators need to face the realities of education today.
In the next 15 years, we hope Proximity Learning has changed communities by providing high-quality education to over one million students. We hope to employ thousands of teachers who love educating but require flexibility and work-life balance. We hope to end teacher vacancies because there will be no instructional difference between an in-person teacher and a virtual one. We’re leading innovation at the forefront of education because it’s what students deserve.
Learn more about how Proximity Learning can partner with your school.
