Dear Educators,

As we near the end of another school year, I am reminded of a powerful concept that resonates deeply with our MARIO Mission, Vision, and Values : discovering and addressing what we don’t know. We believe that quality education shouldn’t be about the knowledge we impart to our students, but about uncovering and unlocking the hidden interests, the unvoiced concerns, and the untapped potential within each student. Taking this approach, we are better positioned to inspire our students and ultimately develop self-directed learners.

The schools beta testing our software over the past semester have completed their trial period and their stories beautifully illustrate the importance of uncovering patterns and hidden challenges. 

The majority of our schools have expanded their usage of our MARIO For Me (MFM) software and moved from learning support classrooms to whole-school implementation through advisory or pastoral care programs. Counselors, equipped with the insights provided by MFM, have started having conversations every week with students who were previously flying under the radar but now get flagged by MFM. It’s still early days, but we are estimating that approximately 3% of our schools’ populations are dealing with significant issues that typically wouldn’t be addressed without the help of MFM. In a school of 1,000 students, MFM has the potential to spotlight 30 opportunities each week that could significantly enhance student wellbeing and success.

One school has recently discovered that MFM can also capture data at the school level, seeing a significant spike in school-wide stress. The data prompted them to dig deeper, as there wasn’t an immediately obvious reason for the sudden increase. It emerged that multiple major assessments were scheduled in the same week, leading to heightened stress levels among students. With this newfound insight, the school is revising its assessment policy to better distribute assessments throughout the academic year.

It’s exciting to discover things we may not have known, because it opens up the opportunity to take us off ‘autopilot’ and into meaningful action. 

I invite you to reflect on this theme as we head into the summer break.. How can we continue to uncover patterns and hidden challenges in our classrooms? How can we better support our students by understanding their unique needs and challenges? Can we find out more about our students’ thought processes and behaviors? 

Thank you for your dedication and commitment to making your students’ lives richer this school year. Enjoy your well-deserved break, and let’s look forward to a new school year filled with discovery and growth.

With gratitude and appreciation,

Philip Bowman

Co-founder & CEO, MARIO Framework