WHO WE ARE
LEAP Social Enterprise, Inc. (LSE) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charter management organization (CMO) founded to scale the successful model of the LEAP Academy University Charter School.
Based in New Jersey and Puerto Rico, LSE leads the planning, development, and management of public charter schools, early learning centers, and community-based programs that serve thousands of children and families.
Since 2019, LSE has become one of the fastest-growing education organizations in Puerto Rico, collaborating with municipalities, universities, and local industries to uplift communities through high-quality schools. To date, eight schools have opened, with four more currently in development and a projected network of nineteen schools serving students from early learning through twelfth grade.
Through this expanding network, LSE is redefining what public education can look like — combining academic excellence, family supports, innovation, and community engagement to transform opportunity across the island and beyond.
We continue to strive for world-class educational excellence and a bright future for our students!
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We believe that all students deserve an excellent education from infancy to college.
We believe in the ability to achieve academic excellence through a infant to college educational pipeline. Our model is based on a comprehensive integrated approach that serves the entire family. The students and families in the LEAP Social Enterprise Community attend college and score higher than the national average in assessments. In fact, students in our communities perform four times higher than students from similar social and economic backgrounds. Learn More
All schools that are apart of the LEAP Social Enterprise are public charter schools catering primarily to those challenged by lack of access, resources and opportunity.
Every school building offers:
- Extended Day and Extended Year of Instruction
- A College Access Office that focuses on academic support and college readiness
- Arts and Athletics Programs
- Access to computers and technology with wireless connection
- Space for parents to visit and engage
- Staff to support students with counseling and socio-emotional services
- Strong character and leadership development programs to ensure that students develop important non-cognitive skills and civic responsibility
- Extended Enrichment and Tutoring Programs after school
- Summer Programming
GLORIA BONILLA-SANTIAGO, PH.D.
Dr. Gloria Bonilla-Santiago is CEO and founder of the LEAP Social Enterprise and a Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor, Graduate Department of Public Policy and Administration at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. She also directs the Community Leadership Center and is the overseer of the LEAP Academy University Charter School. Throughout her academic career, she has established a track record in coordinating large-scale programs through private and public ventures that bring together external and internal stakeholders from a range of organizations, including government, business, non-profits and philanthropic sectors at the local, national and international levels. Learn More