As we look ahead to the 2025-26 school year, we've been thinking deeply about the full Prisma experience—the eight years from a learner's first days in 4th grade through their high school graduation and beyond. What does that journey look like? How does it evolve as learners grow? And most importantly, how can we make sure it's meeting each learner exactly where they are?

The core of Prisma will always be project-based learning, personalized coaching, and vibrant community. But as learners develop from children into young adults, their educational experience should evolve too—becoming more independent, more connected to real-world impact, and more aligned with their emerging sense of purpose.

After analyzing thousands of feedback points from families and observing our learners in action, we're excited to announce three new programs for 2025-26 that will better tailor Prisma to each phase of a learner's journey while staying true to our mission of igniting a lifelong love of learning.

Prisma Lower School (Grades 4-5)

Over the years, we've heard consistent feedback from parents of our youngest learners. Our 4-5th graders thrive with hands-on, creative activities, but sometimes find independent work challenging as they're developing their reading, writing, and computer skills. They need more instruction, support, and guidance.

This year, we experimented with a 4-5th grade only theme (Shuffle, Roll, Jump!), and the positive feedback from kids (100% of whom said they enjoyed the theme) and coaches convinced us to take an even bigger step. Next year, 4-5th grade learners will experience a redesigned program with a new name to match: Prisma Lower School.

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Prisma Lower School addresses our youngest learners' needs with three key changes:

1. More instruction in reading and writing - Literacy Labs will be 4x/week for 30 minutes, instead of once per week for an hour. This gives Lower School learners consistent practice with the fundamentals (including grammar and mechanics) they'll need to thrive in Prisma Middle School.
2. Streamlined independent work - We're redesigning asynchronous materials to be more bite-sized and manageable for young learners, creating space in their days for the additional Literacy Labs.
3. More live support with asynchronous tasks - Lower School workshops will be more directly tied to what learners are working on that day in their tasks, providing guidance on tricky concepts just when they need it. 

We’re over-the-moon excited about Lower School because it’s the definition of ‘hard fun’: more developmentally appropriate without sacrificing any of the rigor where it matters. Our Lower School learners will still engage in deep thinking, hands-on projects, and collaborative learning - just with the right scaffolding to help them succeed. Then, as they progress to Prisma Middle School, they'll be ready to level up their independence. 

Prisma High School Merit Scholars

For learners with aspirations toward competitive colleges, we're introducing the Merit Scholars program—a structured pathway encouraging our most motivated learners to take advantage of Prisma's most rigorous opportunities.

Learners in the Merit Scholars program will:

1. Achieve academic excellence through earning Honors credit in themes/courses, participating in advanced Book Clubs, and completing high level math courses
2. Earn college credits, through AP courses or dual enrollment via our ASU partnership
3. Demonstrate leadership within the Prisma community
4. Complete meaningful community service and participate in the National Honor Society

Learners can apply to Merit Scholars at the end of 9th grade if they maintain a 3.5+ GPA, have completed Honors work, are on track for Algebra II by 10th grade, and have engaged in 25 hours of community service.

Prisma’s first graduating class already has a 100% college acceptance rate, including to highly selective institutions like Carnegie Mellon (congrats, Arden!). Prisma learners stand out to colleges because their applications showcase their authentic passions. The Merit Scholars program takes this a step further, raising the bar while enhancing the personalization that makes Prisma special.

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Prisma High School Impact Fellows

The secret advantage of virtual high school is that we can connect teens with ACTUAL leaders doing world-changing work - not just whoever happens to teach in your zip code.

Starting next year, Prisma high schoolers can join Impact Fellows, a year-long intensive program focused on making a real difference. The Impact Fellowship is led by an expert advisor—an accomplished professional actively working in their field who brings real-world insights and connections. 

Fellows will:

1. Attend biweekly fellowship sessions
2. Meet monthly 1:1 with their advisor
3. Design and execute a real-world impact project
4. Present at Impact Day to showcase their work

Learners with a 3.0+ GPA can apply to be Impact Fellows starting in spring of 9th grade. Additional fees (to be announced) will apply for this intensive mentorship experience.

What's Next

These three programs are still in development. Over the coming months, our design teams will refine each initiative and share more details.

And this isn't all we're working on. While these announcements focus on Lower School and High School, we're also analyzing feedback to make improvements to Prisma Middle School, and every other aspect of our program, during our annual stepback phase.

Our goal with these new programs is to make Prisma the kind of rare school that can truly grow with your child. Where a 4th grader discovers the joy of learning through hands-on projects with just the right support. Where the same child, now in 7th grade, dives deeper into subjects they love with growing confidence. Where that child, now a teenager, connects with mentors who help them see possibilities they never imagined.

We hope we’re creating a school worthy of your child's entire educational journey. We can't wait to share more as these programs take shape!