Building Connected Communities: An Interview with Highfive Co-Founders Nathan Maynard and Dr. Luke Roberts
While many schools struggle with disconnection and discipline, Highfive is making a significant difference by fostering a sense of belonging and connection within school communities. We recently sat down with Nathan Maynard, CEO, and Dr. Luke Roberts, COO, the co-founders of Highfive, to learn about their mission to transform the educational experience. Highfive was founded to tackle the sense of disconnection in schools and reimagining discipline. Read on to discover how their innovative approach unites communities and makes a difference in schools today.
What was the initial inspiration behind founding Highfive, and how has that vision evolved since the company’s inception?
Nathan: Highfive was created to address the growing sense of disconnection in schools. The number one priority for us is creating a sense of belonging in schools. We also understand that discipline in schools has historically not been effective. We are redesigning discipline as an approach with relationship focused and brain-aligned ways to teach empathy while repairing harm.
How have your previous experiences shaped Highfive’s approach to fostering positive academic relationships?
Luke: The number of young people who experience moments in education that create disconnection means that there is a substantial loss of talent and opportunity. We have both worked across the school-to-prison production line and seen students become isolated from the learning experience. This has shaped our company’s commitment to creating a sense of belonging in the school community, which fosters positive academic relationships.
Could you walk us through a typical success story of a school implementing Highfive?
Nathan: Typical success with schools starts with supporting teachers. We understand that teachers need additional resources and tools to build community in classrooms and navigate classroom management effectively. We also find success when schools: reduce suspension rates, increase attendance, and lower occurrences of low-level behaviors to violence in schools.
What key metrics or indicators do you use to measure progress and impact?
Luke: Our focus internal metric is a sense of belonging, which indicates how connected different community members feel to each other and the community. Our external metric is attendance, as schools collect this data. It gives an indication of willingness to participate in the community, and so, by extension, it is a proxy indicator of belonging.
What are the most significant challenges Highfive faces in today’s educational landscape, and what strategies are you employing to address them?
Luke: A major challenge is supporting schools as leaders in teacher retention and well-being. Teaching is both a social and creative profession, and when teachers feel drained or under-resourced, this can be a serious point of frustration. We have combined our software and services to give a seamless experience that enables teachers to build and maintain relationships in their classrooms. This addresses the second problem we see as the disconnection which can occur within the school community, be that the deterioration of the teacher-student relationship on ongoing issues with peers for students. Having responsive strategies is great, but under time pressure, it can be challenging for teachers to select and access strategies that work for students. Highfive Classroom (our flagship digital product) enables teachers to select behavior strategies that build connections and address problematic behavior by combining their skills with evidence-based activities to make a difference in relationships.
Looking ahead, what are Highfive’s primary goals for the next 5–10 years? How do you envision the company’s role in shaping the future of education?
Luke: Our primary goal remains the same over the next 5 to 10 years: to create connected school communities. To do this, we need to continue to develop partnerships with schools, neighborhood communities, educationalists, academics, and business partners to provide the best learning experiences backed up by evidence of success. We believe that by focusing on belonging and connection, our company can be a catalyst for change in the future of education by providing the expertise and knowledge of what it takes for students to thrive in and beyond their school communities. Part of our role is to ensure students see the link between their actions and the skills they will be developing for the future of work.
Learn more at Highfive’s website here.
