Founder
Chris co-founded AscendEd Intelligence and runs the artificial intelligence side of the company as Chief Innovation Officer — translating the daily reality of leading a school district into the AI systems districts actually need.
AscendEd Intelligence
The company
AscendEd Intelligence is an AI-powered edtech platform that consolidates the fragmented data systems inside K-12 districts — SIS, assessments, attendance, grades, discipline — into a single unified analytics environment. The goal is faster, better-informed decisions at every level of a school system.
Built by educators who have worked inside districts, not consultants who visited them. Every feature traces back to a real accountability or instructional problem that district leaders face under time pressure.
Chris's role
Chief Innovation Officer
Chris runs the artificial intelligence side of AscendEd Intelligence as Chief Innovation Officer. He leads AI product strategy and development — translating the daily operational reality of running a school district into the AI systems and features the platform delivers. When the platform makes a recommendation, it reflects how an experienced superintendent actually thinks about the problem.
Practitioner perspective
With more than 30 years in public education — including his current role as superintendent of Pearl Public School District — Chris brings a level of operating context to product development that most edtech companies cannot replicate. He is not advising the company from the outside. He is running a district on the same software.
AI implementation
Chris's national work on practical AI adoption in schools, business, and industry directly informs AscendEd's approach to embedding AI into district analytics — with emphasis on guardrails, educator judgment, and accountability-first design.
What the platform does
AscendEd replaces disconnected spreadsheets and siloed reporting tools with a unified analytics layer built specifically for K-12 accountability requirements.
Recognition
2026
CODiE Award Finalist — Best K-12 EdTech Startup
The CODiE Awards are the education technology industry's most recognized peer-reviewed program. AscendEd Intelligence was named a 2026 finalist in its debut year as a company.
The problem it solves
"Too much data. Too little clarity. Too much at stake."
— AscendEd Intelligence
District leaders are drowning in data from incompatible systems while being held to increasingly precise accountability standards. AscendEd was built to close that gap — not with another dashboard, but with a platform that connects the data that already exists and surfaces what matters, when it matters.
Learn more at ascendedintel.com ↗Contact handoff
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